Aloha
Alright, so first things first (and hopefully this doesn't cause any stress). My companions and I have arranged a calling schedual for Christmas, and since I am not one to create contention, I will be making my phone call at approximately 7:00 A.M. mountain standard time. If I sound a little groggy when I call, its because i will be waking up at 4. And then one of my companions will be taking over at 5. The joy of free minutes before 7 A.M.
But this last week was crazy. By the end of the week we had taught 25 lessons, and had one baptism (Julio). Yet it still didn't seem to be enough for our DL.., but we felt it all went well.
So, first, Monday we had a chapel tour with the Kitiona family. At first it was choas, then we got to the chapel, and it continued to be choas. But, the Lord does work, and the nine year old came to me and wanted me to sing a song from the hymn book. Well, we started singing, and eventually everyone had gathered around, and we all sang. Then we bore testimony, and the spirit was very present. As soon as the time for the wards changes, they should come to church, then we can convince them that their other church is good, but ours has everything. They are a fantastic family, and we are really excited.
Tuesday morning we had a meeting with a less-active member that we stubbled upon. His name is Lance. We were just riding our bikes up his street when his two boys called out to us. So we went back. Turns out he just got back from being deployed, and hasn't been to church in five years. IN fact, we didn't have his records. Well, we went back on Tuesday with our bishop, and it went great. He knows he needs to come back, and next week his wife should come with him to sacrament meeting. He is fantastic.
Unfortunately Janet was sick all this last week, so we were unable to meet with her, but we should be able to meet with her this week, and we are hoping to commit her for baptism the day after Christmas. She has a few concerns, but mostly seems good.
Saturday we went by and saw John again, and had a really long conversation. We have another appointment this week, and are taking a member to help keep things on track. The member is scared, but excited at the same time.
Saturday we also had the baptism for Julio. It was a great experience. He had to be baptized three times, but finally it all got done. Unfortunatley Elder Beavers and I were in a meeting on Sunday and missed his confirmation though. But he and his family are doing great.
So, the work is moving forward. HOpefully the wards will be split with 2 missionaries each by new years day.
Sorry this is a bit short. we had some difficulty with the computer and the ornery library lady. I love you all. Thanks for the continued support, and talk to some of you soon! (I'll send pictures next week).
Elder Kidd
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
12/07/09
Aloha one and all!
So, a quick story from last Monday. We had finished P-day and were headed to a FHE with a member of the high council in our ward. Well, I was leading the way. On the way down there, my bike chain slipped as I was sprinting, and I took a plunge into the bushes on the side of the sidewalk. Then, not 3 minutes later, we tried to cross the street, and a truck that was trying to turn right at a red light bumped the back part of my bike. So, I crashed and then got hit by a car. It was a couple fun minutes. The greatest part was after we crossed (the bump didn't even knock me over, so we kept going) Elder Beavers tried to cross, and the guy almost hit him too, and then yelled at him out the window. Guess it just shows how much the world tries to blame everyone else. But I am much more careful when I cross the street now.
Anyway... This was a bit of a confused week last week. We are realizing more and more that these two wards each need their own missionaries. So, we have developed a system so that we can see everyone we need to in both wards since we failed last week at that.
We had another meeting with John on Saturday, and again he made all of our heads hurt with scientific knowledge, yet he knows that it all points to God. We watched a video about temples... I'm starting to think we need to go back to the very simple basics to avoid the intelectual part of our discussions with him. But he is doing well.
I found out this morning that Trayleen is doing better, and also that Josh and Isaiah from Olomana ward got baptized last night.
We should be having a baptism this Saturday with Julio Diaz. He is in the army, and his wife got baptized while he was in Iraq. We are excited about that.
Also, Janet, another of our investigators, is really close to being baptized. She has a few questions (she has heard a lot of rumors that she knows aren't true, but she wants us to answer them) and we should be able to commit her soon as well. And today in about an hour we are doing a chapel tour for a Samoan family. The Kitiona family mostly knows the church is true, but goes to a Samoan church out on the west shore mostly for social reasons. We have faith that the spirit will touch them today, and we can begin to bring them into Christ's true church.
So, I have been thinking a lot recently about Christmas, and what the world has made it. We truely see how Satan will use everything to his advantage. A day designated to celebrate Christ's birth, and it has turned into a crazed "buy everything you can" day. Let us try to put the true meaning of Christmas back in the holidays this season. Remember the Savior, His sacrifice, His life. Let us honor that, not the mighty dollar.
I love you all, thank you for the continued support, and stay strong!
Elder Kidd
So, a quick story from last Monday. We had finished P-day and were headed to a FHE with a member of the high council in our ward. Well, I was leading the way. On the way down there, my bike chain slipped as I was sprinting, and I took a plunge into the bushes on the side of the sidewalk. Then, not 3 minutes later, we tried to cross the street, and a truck that was trying to turn right at a red light bumped the back part of my bike. So, I crashed and then got hit by a car. It was a couple fun minutes. The greatest part was after we crossed (the bump didn't even knock me over, so we kept going) Elder Beavers tried to cross, and the guy almost hit him too, and then yelled at him out the window. Guess it just shows how much the world tries to blame everyone else. But I am much more careful when I cross the street now.
Anyway... This was a bit of a confused week last week. We are realizing more and more that these two wards each need their own missionaries. So, we have developed a system so that we can see everyone we need to in both wards since we failed last week at that.
We had another meeting with John on Saturday, and again he made all of our heads hurt with scientific knowledge, yet he knows that it all points to God. We watched a video about temples... I'm starting to think we need to go back to the very simple basics to avoid the intelectual part of our discussions with him. But he is doing well.
I found out this morning that Trayleen is doing better, and also that Josh and Isaiah from Olomana ward got baptized last night.
We should be having a baptism this Saturday with Julio Diaz. He is in the army, and his wife got baptized while he was in Iraq. We are excited about that.
Also, Janet, another of our investigators, is really close to being baptized. She has a few questions (she has heard a lot of rumors that she knows aren't true, but she wants us to answer them) and we should be able to commit her soon as well. And today in about an hour we are doing a chapel tour for a Samoan family. The Kitiona family mostly knows the church is true, but goes to a Samoan church out on the west shore mostly for social reasons. We have faith that the spirit will touch them today, and we can begin to bring them into Christ's true church.
So, I have been thinking a lot recently about Christmas, and what the world has made it. We truely see how Satan will use everything to his advantage. A day designated to celebrate Christ's birth, and it has turned into a crazed "buy everything you can" day. Let us try to put the true meaning of Christmas back in the holidays this season. Remember the Savior, His sacrifice, His life. Let us honor that, not the mighty dollar.
I love you all, thank you for the continued support, and stay strong!
Elder Kidd
12/01/09
Fw: Much For Which to Be Thankful
Oh, also, my companions names are Elder Beavers and Elder Winterton. Elder Beavers is from New York and has been out about 8 months, Elder Winterton from Georgia and about 14.5 months.
Elder Kidd
Aloha Beloved Elders & Sisters,
We are thrilled to tell you that 101 of Heavenly Father's children entered the waters of baptism in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission in the month of November. Through the tender mercies of the Lord and more miracles than we can count, we have been blessed to see Vision 100 come to pass.
We are grateful to each of you for your contributions. You have exercised your faith in wonderful ways. You have chosen to sanctify yourselves through repentance that in many cases required painful confession. You have engaged in mighty prayer and fasting and have seen those prayers answered in tangible ways. You have seen the light in the eyes of those who have made and kept commitments which led them to make sacred covenants in the waters of baptism. You have been instruments in the hands of God in helping 101 souls have a chance at salvation.
You have also come to know that with your consecrated effort and much help from the Lord, difficult, never-before-accomplished-things can be accomplished. We need to keep our sights set high for the months ahead--they can all be Vision 100 months where many of God's elect sons and daughters come into the light of the gospel.
Please think back to the scripture I read to you at zone conference. It is from 1st Nephi 17:13 "And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led." We have indeed had a light in our "wilderness." The way before us was "prepared." Many of you have done your very best to "keep the commandments." There is no doubt--we know that it is by the Lord that we have been "led."
We would ask that each of us offer a mighty prayer of Thanksgiving to the Lord for this wonderful Vison 100 month of November. We are deeply indebted to our Father in Heaven and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ for this great miracle. Then, offer another mighty prayer that each of you, every companionship, will be able to be a part of White December by helping at least one of God's children into the waters of baptism before December 27th.
We love you dearly and pray that you will feel a warm confirmation from the Lord--a confirmation that He is pleased with your consecrated service here in these islands. We, with you, look forward to a wonderful Christmas Season. We'll see you all soon at zone conferences.
Mahalo nui loa and much aloha,
President & Sister Peterson
Oh, also, my companions names are Elder Beavers and Elder Winterton. Elder Beavers is from New York and has been out about 8 months, Elder Winterton from Georgia and about 14.5 months.
Elder Kidd
Aloha Beloved Elders & Sisters,
We are thrilled to tell you that 101 of Heavenly Father's children entered the waters of baptism in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission in the month of November. Through the tender mercies of the Lord and more miracles than we can count, we have been blessed to see Vision 100 come to pass.
We are grateful to each of you for your contributions. You have exercised your faith in wonderful ways. You have chosen to sanctify yourselves through repentance that in many cases required painful confession. You have engaged in mighty prayer and fasting and have seen those prayers answered in tangible ways. You have seen the light in the eyes of those who have made and kept commitments which led them to make sacred covenants in the waters of baptism. You have been instruments in the hands of God in helping 101 souls have a chance at salvation.
You have also come to know that with your consecrated effort and much help from the Lord, difficult, never-before-accomplished-things can be accomplished. We need to keep our sights set high for the months ahead--they can all be Vision 100 months where many of God's elect sons and daughters come into the light of the gospel.
Please think back to the scripture I read to you at zone conference. It is from 1st Nephi 17:13 "And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led." We have indeed had a light in our "wilderness." The way before us was "prepared." Many of you have done your very best to "keep the commandments." There is no doubt--we know that it is by the Lord that we have been "led."
We would ask that each of us offer a mighty prayer of Thanksgiving to the Lord for this wonderful Vison 100 month of November. We are deeply indebted to our Father in Heaven and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ for this great miracle. Then, offer another mighty prayer that each of you, every companionship, will be able to be a part of White December by helping at least one of God's children into the waters of baptism before December 27th.
We love you dearly and pray that you will feel a warm confirmation from the Lord--a confirmation that He is pleased with your consecrated service here in these islands. We, with you, look forward to a wonderful Christmas Season. We'll see you all soon at zone conferences.
Mahalo nui loa and much aloha,
President & Sister Peterson
11/30/09
Aloha!
I am going to forward an email that our mission president sent out this week. I hope that you all will enjoy it. It tells a little bit about what we were able to do in November. (FYI, Vision 100 is the goal of getting 100 baptisms in a month, therefore doubling the average of 50 from before).
But we had an awesome week. It seems amazing to me that I have been here in Mililani (Mill-i-lawn-EE). Time is flying by. As we cover two separate wards, we have a lot of work to do. We found out in interviews this last week that our threesome is an accident. A mini-missionary (someone from out here that serves as a missionary for about six weeks) fell through about 12 hours before he was supposed to arrive... so it was a last minute thing. Anyway, we have a lot of work to do, and bikes as transportation to do it with (by the way, there was a bike here for me to use. it is nice. I just had to buy new disc brake pads for it, but everything else is good. does anyone know if the church has something to do with the manufacturing of Liahona bikes?)
Thanksgiving was enjoyable for us. That is the day we had our interviews and district meeting. After that we went and had dinner with an investigator family (super baptist, but we'll get to that later), and then to a less-active family with a son that is getting baptized in january. We visited a couple people, took some pictures (i am sending my memory card home in the Christmas package... so you can't see the pictures and video until then) and then went home. I also got sick this last week (a cold) but got over it fairly quickly using a lot of zinc and vitamin c.
Friday was an interesting day. We had 6 appointments schedualed, so of course only 1 went through. This was with the Fritts family, who we had dinner with on Thanksgiving. They are strong baptists, and honestly do not think we are going to make it to heaven. They believe that the book of Abraham was misinterpreted, and don't think the book of mormon is scripture, but they agreed to honestly pray about it. We had a good discussion with them (it never was a bash, so i was happy), and then we left. We all have to think, but it continues to strengthen my testimony.
Sunday was amazing. One of the wards we cover has a new bishop, and he is incredibly focused on "Rescueing the lost." He saw us riding our bikes late Wednesday night in the rain (probably how i got the cold), and then loved our progress record. He is willing to help us so much, and encouraged (well, kinda scolded) the members to do the same. So, we are now super motivated, excited, and eager to go.
We also had a lesson with a guy named John. John is a genius. I mean, really, this guy is amazing. Basically, he knows that catholocism is wrong through history, and he knows everything else. I want to just pick his brain for about 5 days straight. He is praying about the Book of Mormon, so he should get his answer soon.
On a slightly down note, I found out last night that there is still a lot of drama in my last wards over Trayleen. So much in fact that she isn't sure if she wants to get baptized. So, we see once again that the church is true, but the members aren't always. But we need to look and make sure that we are not the ones that are keeping one of God's children from returning to him. But evenmore, when someone does something to us, we can't let it affect us. Does anyone else ever notice how much more we have to "Rise Above" the influence and do what is right? Guess thats what we call the right thing.
Hopefully next week the computers at the library will be fixed so that each of us can check email at the same time. Right now there are only two working, but hopefully soon! I love you all. Thank you for your continued support, love, and laughs! Keep smiling!
Elder Kidd
I am going to forward an email that our mission president sent out this week. I hope that you all will enjoy it. It tells a little bit about what we were able to do in November. (FYI, Vision 100 is the goal of getting 100 baptisms in a month, therefore doubling the average of 50 from before).
But we had an awesome week. It seems amazing to me that I have been here in Mililani (Mill-i-lawn-EE). Time is flying by. As we cover two separate wards, we have a lot of work to do. We found out in interviews this last week that our threesome is an accident. A mini-missionary (someone from out here that serves as a missionary for about six weeks) fell through about 12 hours before he was supposed to arrive... so it was a last minute thing. Anyway, we have a lot of work to do, and bikes as transportation to do it with (by the way, there was a bike here for me to use. it is nice. I just had to buy new disc brake pads for it, but everything else is good. does anyone know if the church has something to do with the manufacturing of Liahona bikes?)
Thanksgiving was enjoyable for us. That is the day we had our interviews and district meeting. After that we went and had dinner with an investigator family (super baptist, but we'll get to that later), and then to a less-active family with a son that is getting baptized in january. We visited a couple people, took some pictures (i am sending my memory card home in the Christmas package... so you can't see the pictures and video until then) and then went home. I also got sick this last week (a cold) but got over it fairly quickly using a lot of zinc and vitamin c.
Friday was an interesting day. We had 6 appointments schedualed, so of course only 1 went through. This was with the Fritts family, who we had dinner with on Thanksgiving. They are strong baptists, and honestly do not think we are going to make it to heaven. They believe that the book of Abraham was misinterpreted, and don't think the book of mormon is scripture, but they agreed to honestly pray about it. We had a good discussion with them (it never was a bash, so i was happy), and then we left. We all have to think, but it continues to strengthen my testimony.
Sunday was amazing. One of the wards we cover has a new bishop, and he is incredibly focused on "Rescueing the lost." He saw us riding our bikes late Wednesday night in the rain (probably how i got the cold), and then loved our progress record. He is willing to help us so much, and encouraged (well, kinda scolded) the members to do the same. So, we are now super motivated, excited, and eager to go.
We also had a lesson with a guy named John. John is a genius. I mean, really, this guy is amazing. Basically, he knows that catholocism is wrong through history, and he knows everything else. I want to just pick his brain for about 5 days straight. He is praying about the Book of Mormon, so he should get his answer soon.
On a slightly down note, I found out last night that there is still a lot of drama in my last wards over Trayleen. So much in fact that she isn't sure if she wants to get baptized. So, we see once again that the church is true, but the members aren't always. But we need to look and make sure that we are not the ones that are keeping one of God's children from returning to him. But evenmore, when someone does something to us, we can't let it affect us. Does anyone else ever notice how much more we have to "Rise Above" the influence and do what is right? Guess thats what we call the right thing.
Hopefully next week the computers at the library will be fixed so that each of us can check email at the same time. Right now there are only two working, but hopefully soon! I love you all. Thank you for your continued support, love, and laughs! Keep smiling!
Elder Kidd
Monday, November 23, 2009
11/23/09
Aloha and Mahalo
Figure we might as well throw some thanks in the title for this week. As a disclaimer, this email may be a little short, and the keyboard I am using is really poorly designed, so I might ask Tiff to spell check this email before she puts it on the blog.... (done)
So, I got transferred. I am no longer in Waimanalo. I am now in Mililani. I have not one, but two companions. Yes, we are in a threesome (which is why I don't have much time to type this out.) We are also on bike, which has been a lot of fun so far, and I am sure will be quite a bit of fun in the near future... My knee is getting a lot of exercise.
My companions are great though. They are two really good elders who know what they are doing. The only problem we have is that they just combined two wards into one as well, so we are having a bit of a transition to that right now.
On Friday we had an awesome experience. Unfortunately, President Monson couldn't make it to Hawaii because his wife had an accident, but Elder Perry came and we got to shake his hand. Then on Sunday he shared a story about a family in my old ward. It was amazing.
So, I'm afraid the last week has been a bit of a blurr, so I don't remember a whole lot. I will fill in more detail's as the time goes on, but I have someone that has the computer reserved right after me, and I'm losing patience with this stupid keyboard.... arg!! Anyway, I love you all, thank you for your care, concern, and reply emails from last week. Aloha!
Elder Kidd
Figure we might as well throw some thanks in the title for this week. As a disclaimer, this email may be a little short, and the keyboard I am using is really poorly designed, so I might ask Tiff to spell check this email before she puts it on the blog.... (done)
So, I got transferred. I am no longer in Waimanalo. I am now in Mililani. I have not one, but two companions. Yes, we are in a threesome (which is why I don't have much time to type this out.) We are also on bike, which has been a lot of fun so far, and I am sure will be quite a bit of fun in the near future... My knee is getting a lot of exercise.
My companions are great though. They are two really good elders who know what they are doing. The only problem we have is that they just combined two wards into one as well, so we are having a bit of a transition to that right now.
On Friday we had an awesome experience. Unfortunately, President Monson couldn't make it to Hawaii because his wife had an accident, but Elder Perry came and we got to shake his hand. Then on Sunday he shared a story about a family in my old ward. It was amazing.
So, I'm afraid the last week has been a bit of a blurr, so I don't remember a whole lot. I will fill in more detail's as the time goes on, but I have someone that has the computer reserved right after me, and I'm losing patience with this stupid keyboard.... arg!! Anyway, I love you all, thank you for your care, concern, and reply emails from last week. Aloha!
Elder Kidd
Monday, November 16, 2009
11/16/09
Aloha and Aloha
Ok, so this is going to be a difficult and interesting email.
First of all, I need to tell a story from this last week. On Tuesday night, I went on an exchange. Well, I found out when I got picked up that we were going to pick up a couple other elders and have a night of playing some card games. I didn't think it was too bad, so I went along with it. Well, the next day a couple of us felt really bad and called our mission president. So, I will not be a district leader next transfer due to my transgression. I felt and still feel a little horrible, but it has given me the motivation to do better. I feel I have learned a lesson that I wish to share with others now. Follow the rules/commandments, but also that the atonement is real. My biggest worry is how much I have disappointed all of you.
The other news is that I am being transfered. Also, they are splitting the two wards that we covered. So, Elder Call is going to stay in Olomana, and they are bringing two new missionaries into Waimanalo. So, I don't know where I am going to be either. Things are going to be different.
But we had a pretty good week this last week. Rick is having some struggles with his mom right now. She doesn't want him to get baptized, but she is not forbidding it. We told him struggles and trials come, so he is going to pray and see what the answer is. Trayleen is doing well, we just had some trouble with the wards. She lives in one ward, but wants to go to the other. Anyway, things got worked out this last week (probably a little aggressively) and she can now go to the ward she wants to. She is happy about that, but I am sad that I won't be here for her baptism.
We are also going to be able to start working with a couple people we haven't been able to get ahold of for a while. So, things are starting to pick up down here, which seems to follow the general pattern of my mission.
On a better note, all the missionaries on Oahu this next friday (I am staying on Oahu, so that's me as well) have a special meeting. President Monson is coming to Hawaii for a regional conference, and Elder Perry as well. Well, they want to have a special meeting with the missionaries. I am super excited. It is going to be amazing. I'll let you know how it goes!
So, in the end, this has been a week of learning for me. Remember to follow the rules, even if you don't believe that it is that bad. The cool thing that happened though was on Thursday when I felt horrible thinking about what other people would think. Then the spirit gave me the impression of: "It doesn't matter what other people think, only the Lord." So, in the end, I feel bad, stupid, etc... but I know that I am on the right path, and am doing the best I can from this point out. The atonement is real, and the Lord loves us.
I love you all so much. I apologize again for disappointing you. I ask for your forgiveness. Again, I love you.
Elder Kidd
Ok, so this is going to be a difficult and interesting email.
First of all, I need to tell a story from this last week. On Tuesday night, I went on an exchange. Well, I found out when I got picked up that we were going to pick up a couple other elders and have a night of playing some card games. I didn't think it was too bad, so I went along with it. Well, the next day a couple of us felt really bad and called our mission president. So, I will not be a district leader next transfer due to my transgression. I felt and still feel a little horrible, but it has given me the motivation to do better. I feel I have learned a lesson that I wish to share with others now. Follow the rules/commandments, but also that the atonement is real. My biggest worry is how much I have disappointed all of you.
The other news is that I am being transfered. Also, they are splitting the two wards that we covered. So, Elder Call is going to stay in Olomana, and they are bringing two new missionaries into Waimanalo. So, I don't know where I am going to be either. Things are going to be different.
But we had a pretty good week this last week. Rick is having some struggles with his mom right now. She doesn't want him to get baptized, but she is not forbidding it. We told him struggles and trials come, so he is going to pray and see what the answer is. Trayleen is doing well, we just had some trouble with the wards. She lives in one ward, but wants to go to the other. Anyway, things got worked out this last week (probably a little aggressively) and she can now go to the ward she wants to. She is happy about that, but I am sad that I won't be here for her baptism.
We are also going to be able to start working with a couple people we haven't been able to get ahold of for a while. So, things are starting to pick up down here, which seems to follow the general pattern of my mission.
On a better note, all the missionaries on Oahu this next friday (I am staying on Oahu, so that's me as well) have a special meeting. President Monson is coming to Hawaii for a regional conference, and Elder Perry as well. Well, they want to have a special meeting with the missionaries. I am super excited. It is going to be amazing. I'll let you know how it goes!
So, in the end, this has been a week of learning for me. Remember to follow the rules, even if you don't believe that it is that bad. The cool thing that happened though was on Thursday when I felt horrible thinking about what other people would think. Then the spirit gave me the impression of: "It doesn't matter what other people think, only the Lord." So, in the end, I feel bad, stupid, etc... but I know that I am on the right path, and am doing the best I can from this point out. The atonement is real, and the Lord loves us.
I love you all so much. I apologize again for disappointing you. I ask for your forgiveness. Again, I love you.
Elder Kidd
11/09/09
Aloha means love
I've decided a lot of the polynesian and micronesian culters have it right. They great people with a word that also means love (the first two that come to mind are 'Aloha' and "Yokwe' (marshalleese). Anyway, here is hopefully an email full of love...
Elder Call is still proving to be a wonderful learning experience for me. I try not to take offense or get irritated at all, but it is starting to be a little bit harder than usual. I think most everyone knows that I don't really like to have to repeat myself over, and over. Well, Elder Call is helping me learn that at times I may need to ask someone to do (or not do) something over, and over again. I pray every night that the Lord will give me more patience.... He has to be laughing at me up in heaven and simply giving me opportunities to learn it...
But, our week was awesome. I have to admit that Wednesday was my favorite day. I went on another exchange with Elder Hill, and I have realized how awesome he is. I would love to be able to be his companion one day. He loves to work, but have fun at the same time. We were able to get so much done, and I felt like I could put some of the burden on him.
Wednesday we had a marvelous experience though. We had a lesson schedualed with a guy named David. We picked up a kid from the ward named Koa to come with us (he is almost finished with his papers). Well, David wasn't home, so we figured we would walk around and talk to a few people. While we were walking, I called Trayleen to keep daily contact with her. Well, I could tell she had been crying, and she said she had just come out of praying. When I asked if she wanted us to come by, she said yes, so over we went.
We talked for a little bit, and then shared a lot about the atonement. It was so cool, and having Koa there was also a blast. Then, she told us that she had canceled her trip to Washington because she knew if she went that she would lose everything that she had gained (first shock). Then, we asked if she still wanted to wait on her baptism, and she said no because she needed the Holy Ghost (second shock). Elder Hill and I looked at each other, and simply said that she was the most golden investigator either of us had ever met. I am so excited for her. The only concern we have is that all of her friends are in one ward, and she lives in another, and the bishop will not let her get baptized in the other ward.... so please pray for us to know how to handle this.
Monday night we had a good lesson with Rick... and committed him to be baptized. He knows it is true, and wants to, just concerned about his mom. When he told her, she didn't seem happy, but I don't think she will forbid it. We need to talk to him again to see how everything is right now.
So, things are going well. The members of my district are struggling, but hopefully the training tomorrow will help with that. So, trust in the Lord, He gives what we know we need (even when we hate it). He does love us, and He hates to see us sad, but knows it is for our good (isn't that awesome but depressing at the same time). Keep smiling everyone. Satan hates a righteous smile. I love you all! Thanks for supporting me!
Elder Kidd
I've decided a lot of the polynesian and micronesian culters have it right. They great people with a word that also means love (the first two that come to mind are 'Aloha' and "Yokwe' (marshalleese). Anyway, here is hopefully an email full of love...
Elder Call is still proving to be a wonderful learning experience for me. I try not to take offense or get irritated at all, but it is starting to be a little bit harder than usual. I think most everyone knows that I don't really like to have to repeat myself over, and over. Well, Elder Call is helping me learn that at times I may need to ask someone to do (or not do) something over, and over again. I pray every night that the Lord will give me more patience.... He has to be laughing at me up in heaven and simply giving me opportunities to learn it...
But, our week was awesome. I have to admit that Wednesday was my favorite day. I went on another exchange with Elder Hill, and I have realized how awesome he is. I would love to be able to be his companion one day. He loves to work, but have fun at the same time. We were able to get so much done, and I felt like I could put some of the burden on him.
Wednesday we had a marvelous experience though. We had a lesson schedualed with a guy named David. We picked up a kid from the ward named Koa to come with us (he is almost finished with his papers). Well, David wasn't home, so we figured we would walk around and talk to a few people. While we were walking, I called Trayleen to keep daily contact with her. Well, I could tell she had been crying, and she said she had just come out of praying. When I asked if she wanted us to come by, she said yes, so over we went.
We talked for a little bit, and then shared a lot about the atonement. It was so cool, and having Koa there was also a blast. Then, she told us that she had canceled her trip to Washington because she knew if she went that she would lose everything that she had gained (first shock). Then, we asked if she still wanted to wait on her baptism, and she said no because she needed the Holy Ghost (second shock). Elder Hill and I looked at each other, and simply said that she was the most golden investigator either of us had ever met. I am so excited for her. The only concern we have is that all of her friends are in one ward, and she lives in another, and the bishop will not let her get baptized in the other ward.... so please pray for us to know how to handle this.
Monday night we had a good lesson with Rick... and committed him to be baptized. He knows it is true, and wants to, just concerned about his mom. When he told her, she didn't seem happy, but I don't think she will forbid it. We need to talk to him again to see how everything is right now.
So, things are going well. The members of my district are struggling, but hopefully the training tomorrow will help with that. So, trust in the Lord, He gives what we know we need (even when we hate it). He does love us, and He hates to see us sad, but knows it is for our good (isn't that awesome but depressing at the same time). Keep smiling everyone. Satan hates a righteous smile. I love you all! Thanks for supporting me!
Elder Kidd
11/02/09
Aloha
I've decided that mom has this great way of saying exactly what needs to be said to make you feel guilty as heck and encourage you to do what needs to be done... Long enough sentance? Basically, I have been struggling like crazy recently with Elder Call. I am trying my best to help him, be nice, encourage him, etc. but it has been a very draining experience. Then mom tells me of a poem written by a kid in the school about beauty, and not having any friends, and of course I start to analyze and realize that I need to be Elder Call's friend... Now how to do it is the hard part...
But anway, now that I feel guilty (thanks lots mom! ; ) the rest of the week. Well, we had another week of struggles, but not without rewards. Mostly we know that this will be a great week, and Trayleen continues to work towards baptism. She met with our bishop yesterday, came out and told us she had been crying a lot, to which we shared that the church could supply the world with water for about a year just through our tears... (should we market that?) But she is doing great. We are meeting again with her tonight, and hoping to help strengthen her resolve to quit whatever actions are keeping her from baptism. We reset her date to the 5th of December.
We are going to meet with Rick tonight (he had to cancel last week). There are full-time missionaries over the singles ward, and the call seems to be that our assistants think that if they can go there, they should because it will be "better for them." Well, one of Rick's fellowshippers thinks that that idea is one of the dumbest he has ever heard. He is worried about the family and doesn't think that Rick will want them to teach him, so he may keep coming to the family ward. We will see how it plays out.
Josh and Isaiah may not be getting baptized for a while. I think Aunty Momi (the grandma) is still mad at us since she hasn't spoken to us at all. Our bishop is going to talk to her again because right now she wants to wait until next year for them to get baptized, and our bishop thinks it should be soon (we agree). I love our bishop.
Halloween is pretty lame on a mission. You can't do anything. We had a great dinner with uncle Ray though, and I patched up a huge hole in my soul... wait... sole... of my shoe... yeah, that one. Shoe goo is fantastic.
So, we are really excited about this week. I am also excited for Saturday because UH plays USU... so we will see how it goes.
A bit of a spiritual thought, and slight rant. Most missionaries either love or hate fast sunday because of the 'testimonies' that are shared. Yesterday was a prime example. We had some good, some bad, some stories, some 'What was that?'s, but in the end I think it is ok. A young couple that moved into our ward brought a friend to church, and she seemed to enjoy it all. But, the point is, a testimony is simply a declaration of belief. To say I know something is a testimony. I know the Savior lived and dies and lives again, for us. He loves us so much. He cares for us so much. He teaches us through the Holy Ghost. Joseph Smith is his prophet and revelator for these last days. And with everything we do, we say all things, and do all things in the name of Christ.
Thank you all for your continued support, love, encouragement, teaching, etc. I love you all!
Elder Kidd
I've decided that mom has this great way of saying exactly what needs to be said to make you feel guilty as heck and encourage you to do what needs to be done... Long enough sentance? Basically, I have been struggling like crazy recently with Elder Call. I am trying my best to help him, be nice, encourage him, etc. but it has been a very draining experience. Then mom tells me of a poem written by a kid in the school about beauty, and not having any friends, and of course I start to analyze and realize that I need to be Elder Call's friend... Now how to do it is the hard part...
But anway, now that I feel guilty (thanks lots mom! ; ) the rest of the week. Well, we had another week of struggles, but not without rewards. Mostly we know that this will be a great week, and Trayleen continues to work towards baptism. She met with our bishop yesterday, came out and told us she had been crying a lot, to which we shared that the church could supply the world with water for about a year just through our tears... (should we market that?) But she is doing great. We are meeting again with her tonight, and hoping to help strengthen her resolve to quit whatever actions are keeping her from baptism. We reset her date to the 5th of December.
We are going to meet with Rick tonight (he had to cancel last week). There are full-time missionaries over the singles ward, and the call seems to be that our assistants think that if they can go there, they should because it will be "better for them." Well, one of Rick's fellowshippers thinks that that idea is one of the dumbest he has ever heard. He is worried about the family and doesn't think that Rick will want them to teach him, so he may keep coming to the family ward. We will see how it plays out.
Josh and Isaiah may not be getting baptized for a while. I think Aunty Momi (the grandma) is still mad at us since she hasn't spoken to us at all. Our bishop is going to talk to her again because right now she wants to wait until next year for them to get baptized, and our bishop thinks it should be soon (we agree). I love our bishop.
Halloween is pretty lame on a mission. You can't do anything. We had a great dinner with uncle Ray though, and I patched up a huge hole in my soul... wait... sole... of my shoe... yeah, that one. Shoe goo is fantastic.
So, we are really excited about this week. I am also excited for Saturday because UH plays USU... so we will see how it goes.
A bit of a spiritual thought, and slight rant. Most missionaries either love or hate fast sunday because of the 'testimonies' that are shared. Yesterday was a prime example. We had some good, some bad, some stories, some 'What was that?'s, but in the end I think it is ok. A young couple that moved into our ward brought a friend to church, and she seemed to enjoy it all. But, the point is, a testimony is simply a declaration of belief. To say I know something is a testimony. I know the Savior lived and dies and lives again, for us. He loves us so much. He cares for us so much. He teaches us through the Holy Ghost. Joseph Smith is his prophet and revelator for these last days. And with everything we do, we say all things, and do all things in the name of Christ.
Thank you all for your continued support, love, encouragement, teaching, etc. I love you all!
Elder Kidd
Friday, October 30, 2009
Phone Call
Just to let everyone know, I just got a phone call from our bishop. The grandma is ok, the boys will be baptized, we just have to work on the schedual. Blessings!
Elder Kidd
Elder Kidd
10/26/09
Aloha
So, I have to admit that this was probably one of the more frustrating weeks... or rather just yesterday was frustrating. But we'll start at Monday...
Monday after I wrote my email, we played some ultimate frisbee, and then I cut three elder's hair, and then my own. Well, funny story on my haircut (my mission president said I have to write this down in my journal... sorry, but you don't get a picture of it this week). So, I started out cutting my own, and it started to rain, so I had to run under the edge of the roof. So, there I was, cutting my hair, kneeling on the sidewalk looking into a mirror propped up on a chair. Everything was going well, and I was almost done with the top of my head when all of a sudden the guard popped off, and I took a big chunk out of my hair... long story short, my hair is now super short all over, and I am rubbing my head a lot in hopes of getting it to grow back faster.
That night we had a good lesson with Rick though. We will probably be transfering his teaching to the single's ward soon though, which is a bit of a bummer because he is super solid, just concerned about his mom.
Tuesday... hmmm.... ok, i forget again.
Wednesday I was on an exchange with Elder Hill, who is completely bald. He went home for a bit because he got cancer, and lost all of his hair, but then came back. He is a lot of fun, we worked hard, and things went well. It was nice to have a day that I didn't have everything on me... I have to admit I was sad at the end of the night when we had to trade back... I like elder Hill.
Thursday we had another busy busy day, and a funeral that night. We met for the first time with Trayleen, and were able to meet with a couple other families, so I think more will come of all of that. Then we went to the funeral of Brother Bukarou, who was the second councilor in the bishoprich when I got here. He had stomach cancer, and it finally got the better of him. He was a chief back in Fiji, so there were a lot of people there. His family made it a fun funeral with a lot of funny memories. It is sad to see him go, but we know he is in a better place.
I don't think much happened friday, so we will skip to saturday. Saturday morning we had a conference with Elder Kenneth Jensen in Honolulu. It was good, and it was fun to see other missionaries. Then Elder Call and I came back and did some service helping to build a house. It was really good for Elder Call because he was back in his element, and he really enjoyed it.
So, to yesterday (and I will talk a little more about Trayleen here as well). Everything at church was good, until we tried to talk to the Grandma of the two boys that were supposed to get baptized this Friday. Well, she didn't want to talk to us, and was very short with us, so the baptism is off for now. We don't know quite what the issue is, so we are going to talk to our bishop soon, since he talked to her yesterday.
Now, Trayleen. On thursday we taught trayleen, and she was super excited. she wants to be baptized, and we set a date for November 14th. On Friday we taught her again, and she is still super excited, and she said she was willing to live the law of chastity and the word of wisdom. Sunday... she wasn't so sure. She still wants to get baptized... eventually... So, we have faith that the spirit will relight that fire in her. We are a little scared that her boyfriend may be influencing her right now... mostly on the chastity issue. Fortunately for us, we have a member that knows him, and our member weighs over 300 lbs, and can benchpress over 500lbs. We will see how things go.
We can see that the Lord does provide miracles though. Trayleen is definately a miracle. Also, we are supposed to find two new investigators every week. Well, Elder Call and I were short 1 yesterday morning, so we were praying for a miracle. One of our members (who live on a tarro farm away from everything and don't have electricity except from a generator and no running water... I like them) brought a friend to church who we will be teaching on Saturday. That was awesome.
I hope everyone has a good week. Sorry for those that have been expecting mail... i think our mail system is a bit slower in Waimanalo than it was in Kailua. I hope all is going well. Thanks for the continued support, and I love you all!
Elder Kidd
So, I have to admit that this was probably one of the more frustrating weeks... or rather just yesterday was frustrating. But we'll start at Monday...
Monday after I wrote my email, we played some ultimate frisbee, and then I cut three elder's hair, and then my own. Well, funny story on my haircut (my mission president said I have to write this down in my journal... sorry, but you don't get a picture of it this week). So, I started out cutting my own, and it started to rain, so I had to run under the edge of the roof. So, there I was, cutting my hair, kneeling on the sidewalk looking into a mirror propped up on a chair. Everything was going well, and I was almost done with the top of my head when all of a sudden the guard popped off, and I took a big chunk out of my hair... long story short, my hair is now super short all over, and I am rubbing my head a lot in hopes of getting it to grow back faster.
That night we had a good lesson with Rick though. We will probably be transfering his teaching to the single's ward soon though, which is a bit of a bummer because he is super solid, just concerned about his mom.
Tuesday... hmmm.... ok, i forget again.
Wednesday I was on an exchange with Elder Hill, who is completely bald. He went home for a bit because he got cancer, and lost all of his hair, but then came back. He is a lot of fun, we worked hard, and things went well. It was nice to have a day that I didn't have everything on me... I have to admit I was sad at the end of the night when we had to trade back... I like elder Hill.
Thursday we had another busy busy day, and a funeral that night. We met for the first time with Trayleen, and were able to meet with a couple other families, so I think more will come of all of that. Then we went to the funeral of Brother Bukarou, who was the second councilor in the bishoprich when I got here. He had stomach cancer, and it finally got the better of him. He was a chief back in Fiji, so there were a lot of people there. His family made it a fun funeral with a lot of funny memories. It is sad to see him go, but we know he is in a better place.
I don't think much happened friday, so we will skip to saturday. Saturday morning we had a conference with Elder Kenneth Jensen in Honolulu. It was good, and it was fun to see other missionaries. Then Elder Call and I came back and did some service helping to build a house. It was really good for Elder Call because he was back in his element, and he really enjoyed it.
So, to yesterday (and I will talk a little more about Trayleen here as well). Everything at church was good, until we tried to talk to the Grandma of the two boys that were supposed to get baptized this Friday. Well, she didn't want to talk to us, and was very short with us, so the baptism is off for now. We don't know quite what the issue is, so we are going to talk to our bishop soon, since he talked to her yesterday.
Now, Trayleen. On thursday we taught trayleen, and she was super excited. she wants to be baptized, and we set a date for November 14th. On Friday we taught her again, and she is still super excited, and she said she was willing to live the law of chastity and the word of wisdom. Sunday... she wasn't so sure. She still wants to get baptized... eventually... So, we have faith that the spirit will relight that fire in her. We are a little scared that her boyfriend may be influencing her right now... mostly on the chastity issue. Fortunately for us, we have a member that knows him, and our member weighs over 300 lbs, and can benchpress over 500lbs. We will see how things go.
We can see that the Lord does provide miracles though. Trayleen is definately a miracle. Also, we are supposed to find two new investigators every week. Well, Elder Call and I were short 1 yesterday morning, so we were praying for a miracle. One of our members (who live on a tarro farm away from everything and don't have electricity except from a generator and no running water... I like them) brought a friend to church who we will be teaching on Saturday. That was awesome.
I hope everyone has a good week. Sorry for those that have been expecting mail... i think our mail system is a bit slower in Waimanalo than it was in Kailua. I hope all is going well. Thanks for the continued support, and I love you all!
Elder Kidd
10/21/09
Aloha
Ok, I have a little more time this week, so I should be able to write a bit more, as promised. First, to let everyone know, Elder Butcher is doing great. He had to go to Honolulu two more times, but I didn't take him. He currently is wearing contacts again, but he is going to go back to the doctor on Saturday for something else.... but we will all be in Honolulu on Saturday for a conference with a member of the seventy, so it is ok!
This was a pretty good week. On Tuesday we were able to teach a lady named Kui. Apparently a few years (10-20) ago she and her family came to church, but she never got baptized. She knows a few members
in the ward that she doesn't live in, and has read the Book of Mormon. She doesn't remember anything though, so we started over. Unfortunately, we aren't sure if she is really interested or just too nice to tell us no. We weren't able to set up another appointment with her, and her phone is off right now. We will keep trying though!
Hmm... wednesday... what happened wednesday... I don't remember. Oh, it rained really hard on Wednesday night. We nearly had a lake in the courtyard of our church. It is weird to see running water when you feel "inside." We weren't really inside, but it felt that way.
Thursday turned into an absolutely crazy day. We ended up teaching six lessons that day, and then spent the rest of our time preparing for the fireside that we had yesterday. It was a super busy day.
Friday was almost entirely taken up by moving. Yes, we have finally moved into a place where our neighbors don't smoke weed every night. It is a little small, but still really nice. We live with a member, who has said he will buy almost anything for us (though we can't bring ourselves to take him up on that offer), we have a washer and dryer, and lots of nice stuff. Also, we live right by a park, so I can start running again in the morning, and we should be able to move a weight set down here as well. To cap it all off, the house in on the beach lots, so we have a good view of the beach, and the sunrises are amazing. Oh, we have two pet chihuahuas as well. They are a little annoying sometimes, but mostly good.
Saturday I went on an exchange in another ward. While we were there, we went by a tongan member who is a professional woodcarver. He mostly carves tiki's and fish hooks. He gave me a free tiki while I was there. He just made me pick out the one that I wanted. Well, apparently I picked out the tiki god of love. That really seems to be the trend of my mission: "Love the people, and things will go well."
Sunday we had a fun day, but the night was the best. We put on a musical fireside, which went really well. We found out that one of the members in our ward had been working with her friend, and her friend now wants to take the lessons. She came to the fireside, really enjoyed it, and we have an appointment with her on Thursday.
It is amazing to see the members get excited for the work. Once we can really see the blessings the gospel brings into our lives, then we can't help but share it. I love the line in the Joseph Smith movie at temple square. The scottish guy starts playing the bagpipes, and you see Hyrum look very startled around. Then you hear Joseph: "A man filled with the Love of God will not be content to bless his family alone. He will be anxious to bless the whole world." Truely, if we have this love, we cannot keep it in. We want to share it, and the Lord will bless us.
i love you all! As always, thanks for the continued support. Stay strong, stay faithful. The Lord will provide!
Elder Kidd
Ok, I have a little more time this week, so I should be able to write a bit more, as promised. First, to let everyone know, Elder Butcher is doing great. He had to go to Honolulu two more times, but I didn't take him. He currently is wearing contacts again, but he is going to go back to the doctor on Saturday for something else.... but we will all be in Honolulu on Saturday for a conference with a member of the seventy, so it is ok!
This was a pretty good week. On Tuesday we were able to teach a lady named Kui. Apparently a few years (10-20) ago she and her family came to church, but she never got baptized. She knows a few members
in the ward that she doesn't live in, and has read the Book of Mormon. She doesn't remember anything though, so we started over. Unfortunately, we aren't sure if she is really interested or just too nice to tell us no. We weren't able to set up another appointment with her, and her phone is off right now. We will keep trying though!
Hmm... wednesday... what happened wednesday... I don't remember. Oh, it rained really hard on Wednesday night. We nearly had a lake in the courtyard of our church. It is weird to see running water when you feel "inside." We weren't really inside, but it felt that way.
Thursday turned into an absolutely crazy day. We ended up teaching six lessons that day, and then spent the rest of our time preparing for the fireside that we had yesterday. It was a super busy day.
Friday was almost entirely taken up by moving. Yes, we have finally moved into a place where our neighbors don't smoke weed every night. It is a little small, but still really nice. We live with a member, who has said he will buy almost anything for us (though we can't bring ourselves to take him up on that offer), we have a washer and dryer, and lots of nice stuff. Also, we live right by a park, so I can start running again in the morning, and we should be able to move a weight set down here as well. To cap it all off, the house in on the beach lots, so we have a good view of the beach, and the sunrises are amazing. Oh, we have two pet chihuahuas as well. They are a little annoying sometimes, but mostly good.
Saturday I went on an exchange in another ward. While we were there, we went by a tongan member who is a professional woodcarver. He mostly carves tiki's and fish hooks. He gave me a free tiki while I was there. He just made me pick out the one that I wanted. Well, apparently I picked out the tiki god of love. That really seems to be the trend of my mission: "Love the people, and things will go well."
Sunday we had a fun day, but the night was the best. We put on a musical fireside, which went really well. We found out that one of the members in our ward had been working with her friend, and her friend now wants to take the lessons. She came to the fireside, really enjoyed it, and we have an appointment with her on Thursday.
It is amazing to see the members get excited for the work. Once we can really see the blessings the gospel brings into our lives, then we can't help but share it. I love the line in the Joseph Smith movie at temple square. The scottish guy starts playing the bagpipes, and you see Hyrum look very startled around. Then you hear Joseph: "A man filled with the Love of God will not be content to bless his family alone. He will be anxious to bless the whole world." Truely, if we have this love, we cannot keep it in. We want to share it, and the Lord will bless us.
i love you all! As always, thanks for the continued support. Stay strong, stay faithful. The Lord will provide!
Elder Kidd
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
10/12/09
AlohaSo, this is going to be really rushed this week due to recent events. Mostly today was absolutely crazy. But, a quick recap of the week.
Umm... mostly all I remember at this point is that Justys got baptized yesterday (hurray!!). i will send pictures in another email, so hopefully you can get those as well!
Umm, we taught quite a few people this last week, and all that good stuff. Wow, I really can't focus right now due to lack of time, so i apologize.
So, saturday after a meeting, we found out that one of the other district leaders (elder butcher) had to go to honolulu to get an eye exam due and has a problem with his eye. So, saturday, elder butchers greenie, and elder call (pretty much a greenie) got stuck tracting for about 3 hours while elder butcher and I went to honolulu. Well, we found out some stuff, and he was blind for a couple of days. then last night we found out he had to go back to get some glasses so that he could see and actually do some work. so, he got another eye exam, then found out he didn't have money. We waited for a sr. couple to pay for it, and his prescription is bad (he is legally handicaped without glasses or contacts. he needs glasses because he can't wear his contacts right now and didn't have glasses.) after that, we got permission to go to a 'red zone' (meaning we can't go there) so that he could get his glasses. We picked out some frames for him, then waited for an hour in a red zone (ala moana shopping center) for them to be made. it was a lot of fun, but took a lot of time, so I am out of time. I will tell you more next week!
I love you all. Keep up the good work and thanks for the continued support.
Elder Kidd
10/05/09
Aloha!
So, the big news about transfers is: nothing. I am staying in my area with Elder Call for another six weeks. It is going to be interesting. We were able to have a couple good conversations yesterday, so I think we will be able to have a fantastic transfer. The only thing that is changing is that one of the Elders in my district went District Leader, so they are rearranging the districts... and we have no idea how. One other positive is that one elder that seems to hate me with a passion to rival all passions is leaving as well.
But, we were able to have a great week. A couple things fell through, but that is to be expected. The big news of this week is that we committed Isaiah and Josh who are the grandkids of a member in our ward. We had been struggling to help Aunty Momi understand that the Holy Ghost will help us later on and we don't need a perfect understanding first. They will be getting baptized on the 30th of this month.
Also, this next Sunday I will be baptizing Justyce Cummings right after church. He was taught all of the lessons by Elder Simnitt and another elder a while ago, but never came to church. Well, shortly after he turned 9, he showed up at church, and his family wants him baptized, so we are very excited.
So, our misson president has said that each companionship needs to find two new investigators each week. That is something that Elder Call and I have really been striving to achieve and set the example for. Well, on Saturday we hadn't found anyone, and we were trying to figure out who we could find. Well, we prayed, and this homeless couple that lives on the beach popped into my mind. Well, we stopped by and saw them, and were able to teach them a little bit, and they want us to come back and teach some more. The Lord really does provide blessings as we strive to fulfill His commandments.
Conference was amazing. We are going to try to figure out a way to copy it onto a vhs so that we can show some of the talks to our investigators, especially Elder Holland's. Wasn't his powerful? Everything else as well, and President Monson's in priesthood was good too. Oh, I love conference.
As always, I hope everyone is doing well. I love you all. Keep up the good work!
Elder Kidd
So, the big news about transfers is: nothing. I am staying in my area with Elder Call for another six weeks. It is going to be interesting. We were able to have a couple good conversations yesterday, so I think we will be able to have a fantastic transfer. The only thing that is changing is that one of the Elders in my district went District Leader, so they are rearranging the districts... and we have no idea how. One other positive is that one elder that seems to hate me with a passion to rival all passions is leaving as well.
But, we were able to have a great week. A couple things fell through, but that is to be expected. The big news of this week is that we committed Isaiah and Josh who are the grandkids of a member in our ward. We had been struggling to help Aunty Momi understand that the Holy Ghost will help us later on and we don't need a perfect understanding first. They will be getting baptized on the 30th of this month.
Also, this next Sunday I will be baptizing Justyce Cummings right after church. He was taught all of the lessons by Elder Simnitt and another elder a while ago, but never came to church. Well, shortly after he turned 9, he showed up at church, and his family wants him baptized, so we are very excited.
So, our misson president has said that each companionship needs to find two new investigators each week. That is something that Elder Call and I have really been striving to achieve and set the example for. Well, on Saturday we hadn't found anyone, and we were trying to figure out who we could find. Well, we prayed, and this homeless couple that lives on the beach popped into my mind. Well, we stopped by and saw them, and were able to teach them a little bit, and they want us to come back and teach some more. The Lord really does provide blessings as we strive to fulfill His commandments.
Conference was amazing. We are going to try to figure out a way to copy it onto a vhs so that we can show some of the talks to our investigators, especially Elder Holland's. Wasn't his powerful? Everything else as well, and President Monson's in priesthood was good too. Oh, I love conference.
As always, I hope everyone is doing well. I love you all. Keep up the good work!
Elder Kidd
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
09/28/09
Aloha!
Wow, it was a good week. Of course, some things could have gone better, but even with 4 lessons cancelling on us, the Lord blessed us.
On Tuesday we started out with Zone Conference which was fantastic. I sang the song "O Lord, my Redeemer" for the musical number, which went well. The only problem is that I have been asked to sing at a meeting for investigators this week. Oh well...
After zone conference, we went out and were able to teach a couple of lessons. One of those was to a young boy named Justyce Cummings. His grandma and mom are both active, but have been less-active for a long time. Elder Simnitt and one of his previous companions here taught Justyce all of the lessons, and a few more, but they would never come to church. Well, a few weeks ago, he showed up at church. Before we could go over though, someone in the family died, and that chaos insued. Well, we finally were able to go over this last week, review everything he learned, and he will be getting baptized on October 11! Hurray! Now we are going to try to use this as an opportunity for our other investigators.
On Wednesday, we spent the entire day running from one appointment to another. It was fun, but tiring. We had a good lesson with Jason Skaggs and his family. Jason Skaggs is a recently re-activated member who has a 12 year old (unbaptized) daughter, and a fiance (to be wife in about 11 hours), and he wants his family to be sealed in the temple. So, they are doing great. We are going with him to that investigator meeting this wednesday that I am singing at.
Thursday was a little bit disappointing, but good at the same time. 3 lessons canceled on us, but we had a really good one at the end of the night. The really cool thing was David though, who called in a little bit of frustration, but shared with me that he wants to continue the path, and that he feels like he can trust me and talk to me. That meant a lot to me. Apparently he feels he has the gift of discearnment, and after only a couple of minutes, he like me. So, I was especially grateful to the Lord that night.
Saturday night one of our wards had a fish fry, and man can these guys cook fish. It was amazing. I think it is funny though, I've realized that Brandon and I may have to go out to eat a lot when I get home because I really like raw fish now. I don't know if I shared the experience, but one time on Kauai with Jack, he had us over for dinner one night after he had been fishing. Well, I watched him pull a fish out of the freezer, skin it, and start slicing pieces of meat for me to eat. Oh, it was delicious. Shashimi is how I think it is spelled.
So, all in all, it was a good week. I also really enjoyed the last verse in Ether this last week: "Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God." What amazing faith and trust did Ether have in the Lord. No matter what happens in this life, it doesn't matter as long as we are saved in the Kingdom of God. By the same token though, 2 Nephi 25 tells us that we are to have joy, so we should be able to have joy with whatever happens to us, and if we are following the commandments, we will have joy and be saved in the Kingdom of God.
Thank you all as always for your support, encouragement, and love. I love you all!
Elder Kidd
Wow, it was a good week. Of course, some things could have gone better, but even with 4 lessons cancelling on us, the Lord blessed us.
On Tuesday we started out with Zone Conference which was fantastic. I sang the song "O Lord, my Redeemer" for the musical number, which went well. The only problem is that I have been asked to sing at a meeting for investigators this week. Oh well...
After zone conference, we went out and were able to teach a couple of lessons. One of those was to a young boy named Justyce Cummings. His grandma and mom are both active, but have been less-active for a long time. Elder Simnitt and one of his previous companions here taught Justyce all of the lessons, and a few more, but they would never come to church. Well, a few weeks ago, he showed up at church. Before we could go over though, someone in the family died, and that chaos insued. Well, we finally were able to go over this last week, review everything he learned, and he will be getting baptized on October 11! Hurray! Now we are going to try to use this as an opportunity for our other investigators.
On Wednesday, we spent the entire day running from one appointment to another. It was fun, but tiring. We had a good lesson with Jason Skaggs and his family. Jason Skaggs is a recently re-activated member who has a 12 year old (unbaptized) daughter, and a fiance (to be wife in about 11 hours), and he wants his family to be sealed in the temple. So, they are doing great. We are going with him to that investigator meeting this wednesday that I am singing at.
Thursday was a little bit disappointing, but good at the same time. 3 lessons canceled on us, but we had a really good one at the end of the night. The really cool thing was David though, who called in a little bit of frustration, but shared with me that he wants to continue the path, and that he feels like he can trust me and talk to me. That meant a lot to me. Apparently he feels he has the gift of discearnment, and after only a couple of minutes, he like me. So, I was especially grateful to the Lord that night.
Saturday night one of our wards had a fish fry, and man can these guys cook fish. It was amazing. I think it is funny though, I've realized that Brandon and I may have to go out to eat a lot when I get home because I really like raw fish now. I don't know if I shared the experience, but one time on Kauai with Jack, he had us over for dinner one night after he had been fishing. Well, I watched him pull a fish out of the freezer, skin it, and start slicing pieces of meat for me to eat. Oh, it was delicious. Shashimi is how I think it is spelled.
So, all in all, it was a good week. I also really enjoyed the last verse in Ether this last week: "Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God." What amazing faith and trust did Ether have in the Lord. No matter what happens in this life, it doesn't matter as long as we are saved in the Kingdom of God. By the same token though, 2 Nephi 25 tells us that we are to have joy, so we should be able to have joy with whatever happens to us, and if we are following the commandments, we will have joy and be saved in the Kingdom of God.
Thank you all as always for your support, encouragement, and love. I love you all!
Elder Kidd
09/21/09
Aloha from week of struggles
So, it was interesting yesterday to see how incredibly down I was at the start of church, and how chipper (annoyingly so to Elder Call) I was by the end of the night. I realized yesterday morning how absolutely dismal our week had been, but had an incredible amount of faith by the end. This is going to be an amazing week.
On that note, I'll tell you about our week. This week was Waimanalo's 60th anniversary of the forming of the first branch. So, Sunday there was a special sacrament meeting, Monday there was a fireside, Tuesday was a fun night, Thursday was a movie night, and Saturday was the biggest Luau I have been to yet. So, it was a fun week, but missionary work seemed down.
But it wasn't that we weren't trying. I didn't count, but I would guestimate that we had about 8-10 canceled lessons through the week. Several investigators bailed, other just didn't go through. But this week has potential to be HUGE!
Tuesday night at the fun night was awesome though. We had a member bring about 30 nonmembers to the activity. They are all from Chuuke (yes, more of those people. I promise the place exists). They had a blast, and we were able to introduce them to the gospel. More activities are being planned for them, and we are excited to share more with them. Thursday night was a movie night that we couldn't participate in, but as we were getting the popcorn and hotdogs, I heard a few lines and the movie sounded intense. I think it was called "Against the Giants" or something like that. But it sounded really good and religious based, so I'm going to look it up when I get back. We were at the church waiting for a lesson (that canceled on us), so they made sure we got something to eat.
Last night was good though. We have started teaching active members of our ward so that we can get more practice, bring the spirit to them, and then get them to invite friends as well. We taught a newly wed couple in our ward that is getting sealed soon, and they really enjoyed it. We then taught one of our bishops, and he and his family loved it, and he is going to try to get a nonmember to our next lesson : )
So, in the end, the week seemed tough, but it will be good. There are adversities in life that we struggle through, but if we endure well, and ask the Lord for help, we learn so much from it that we never thought we could. Also, the Lord will help us endure the trials. These things are true.
I love you all, thanks for your continued support, and stay strong!
Elder Kidd
So, it was interesting yesterday to see how incredibly down I was at the start of church, and how chipper (annoyingly so to Elder Call) I was by the end of the night. I realized yesterday morning how absolutely dismal our week had been, but had an incredible amount of faith by the end. This is going to be an amazing week.
On that note, I'll tell you about our week. This week was Waimanalo's 60th anniversary of the forming of the first branch. So, Sunday there was a special sacrament meeting, Monday there was a fireside, Tuesday was a fun night, Thursday was a movie night, and Saturday was the biggest Luau I have been to yet. So, it was a fun week, but missionary work seemed down.
But it wasn't that we weren't trying. I didn't count, but I would guestimate that we had about 8-10 canceled lessons through the week. Several investigators bailed, other just didn't go through. But this week has potential to be HUGE!
Tuesday night at the fun night was awesome though. We had a member bring about 30 nonmembers to the activity. They are all from Chuuke (yes, more of those people. I promise the place exists). They had a blast, and we were able to introduce them to the gospel. More activities are being planned for them, and we are excited to share more with them. Thursday night was a movie night that we couldn't participate in, but as we were getting the popcorn and hotdogs, I heard a few lines and the movie sounded intense. I think it was called "Against the Giants" or something like that. But it sounded really good and religious based, so I'm going to look it up when I get back. We were at the church waiting for a lesson (that canceled on us), so they made sure we got something to eat.
Last night was good though. We have started teaching active members of our ward so that we can get more practice, bring the spirit to them, and then get them to invite friends as well. We taught a newly wed couple in our ward that is getting sealed soon, and they really enjoyed it. We then taught one of our bishops, and he and his family loved it, and he is going to try to get a nonmember to our next lesson : )
So, in the end, the week seemed tough, but it will be good. There are adversities in life that we struggle through, but if we endure well, and ask the Lord for help, we learn so much from it that we never thought we could. Also, the Lord will help us endure the trials. These things are true.
I love you all, thanks for your continued support, and stay strong!
Elder Kidd
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
09/14/09
Aloha with clean teethYep, after putting if off for about 8 months, I finally got my teeth cleaned this morning. I found out that the only problem I had was that I had been brushing one tooth too hard, and had uncovered the root a little bit, so it's been a little sensitive. But, everything else was good. Something funny though, two of the hygentists were talking before my cleaning, while waiting for the dentist (he was going to clean my teeth). Well, they start talking, and very quickly get onto the subject of breach babies (Chelsi, I spent a bit of time thinking of you). So, they continue on for a bit, talking about how to turn them, and mention some other things I didn't quite get, and then realized that neither of them had told the dentist I was there (the dentist is a member and does work free... except I had insurance so it was all good). Fortunately it only took a couple of minutes for them to figure it out, and I have a lot of older sisters and sisters-in-law, so I have heard that type of conversation before. But my teeth are clean!
The work went well this last week. It seemed that we were so busy every single day. All but Tuesday and Saturday we spent the entire day running from appointment to appointment. Elder Call is getting a lot of practice.
On Wednesday we had a fun lesson with Loretta. We wanted to read 2 Nephi 27 with her, which talks about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. Well, she launches into a rant about how the book of mormon is stupid, those people didn't care about the restoration, and we have the gall to claim these things. Eventually our fellowshipper got out of her that she had received her "answer" and that she isn't supposed to get baptized. So, we said give us a call when you want to meet, but made sure to leave her (again) with the thought that Satan works against the truth.
Thursday night we had a lesson with Isaiah, Josh, and their mom Kim. We played the Plan of Salvation board game with them. The lesson went well, and we tried to commit them for baptism afterwards. Well, Grandma (Aunty Momi) is convinced that they do not know enough to get baptized... so frustrating. We tried to convince her (and the kids' mom) that they don't have to be gospel scholars to get baptized, but she wasn't seeming to have it. Oh well. Soon. Very soon.
Friday night we had a great lesson with a kid named Rick. He is 18, and facing struggles in his life. He has a couple good friends who are great members in our ward. Well, his concerns right now are that he feels he can't be forgiven for things he has done, and is concerned about what his family will think. Well, Friday we decided to focus more on the forgiveness part (figured that it's pretty crucial), so we had a lesson on the Atonement. We started off by watching part of the Testiments when Christ is suffering and killed. Then we went over some stories and talks by the apostles, and bore strong testimony. We had a bunch of members with us, who also bore testimony. but the best part was at the end. It is hard to get elder Call involved unless he knows a specific part and I force him to teach. But, one of our fellowshippers asked him to bear his testimony and fulfill the law of witnesses. Well, he did, and it made all of the difference, and we all noticed it. It was amazing. I was so proud.
Well, after that, we sped over to Kaneohe to exchange with our ZLs for an exchange. So, saturday (the day we didn't have anything schedualed) I had one of the ZLs with me. Our goal for the day was to find a new investigator, and the Lord blessed us. We actually taught two lessons on the spot, and got one return appointment. And the one that we don't have another appointment wants to meet with us again (but she is single, so we may let the ZLs who are over the singles branch meet with her... the irony). So it was good.
Yesterday we commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Waimanalo Ward/Branch. We had a combined sacrament meeting with both of our wards, and it was near chaos. They took a big group picture that I am going to try to get sent home so you can see. It was fun though. Then, we went and taught another lesson, and went into Honolulu for a fireside that one of our members performed in. Unfortunately all of our investigators fell through last minute (as in, after we were in Honolulu), but it was a good fireside. The group was very impressive. Actually one of the best blended and in-sync choirs I have ever heard. Unfortunately all of their "special guests" talked for a really, really, really, really long time and things got a little long. But overall it was really good.
Oh, one other cool thing. A gentleman in our ward just got back from basic training (where he has been for about 3-4 months). He has a nine year old daughter he wants to get baptized, so the lessons begin on Wednesday.
Remember, the Lord will never give us more than we can handle, as long as we are doing what is right and trusting in Him. That being said, He does give us a lot so that we learn to handle more.
I love you all! Keep smiling, stay safe, stay strong!
Elder Kidd
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
09/07/09
Aloha
So, I think a lot of people have heard the rumor that in Hawaii, whenever someone begins to talk, they say "Aloha" and everyone responds "Aloha" back. Well, that is true. Sometimes we switch it up and say "Malo e lele" or "Talofo lava" or "Good Morning", but whatever is said, everyone responds back.
We had a good last week though. Elder Call is continuing to improve and progress. He is still scared out of his wits, but not nearly as much anymore. We actually had one of our bishops keep us behind after a meeting yesterday to talk to us (well, mostly him) and say not to be scared.
I think the coolest experience this week happened on Tuesday. Or rather started on Tuesday. We were tracting out a street fairly late at night, and were about done. Well, we looked up to a house, and it looked like there might be someone home, so we figured we would try it. So, we walked to the door, and heard the clattering of dishes and the TV. Let me just say, people don't like to be interupted during dinner and watching TV. Still, we decided to try, so we knocked:
"Who is it?"
"Missionaries."
"We'll be right there!"
The first thought that pops into my head is either: 1) a very mad person, or 2) a member. Well, the door flies open and John Thiele (pronounced Tee-Lee) from Idaho opens the door and invites us in. He was visiting his non-member step-sister because his step-mother is about to pass. So, he invited us in, we shared a message, he shared about the gospel, we left a plan of salvation pamphlet, and left with an assignment to find a member to go with him to give his step-mother a blessing. Well, we found the member, who couldn't go, so a member of our bishoprich ended up going instead. Well, Brother Thiele got up yesterday during sacrament meeting and praised us during his testimony, so now all of the members are impressed (always a good thing) and we are looking forward to going to see his step-sister again soon.
This week we also began teaching a couple of grandsons of a member in our ward, and their non-member mother decided she wants to sit in as well. They have been coming to church for a while now, so we should be able to help them get baptized very soon.
On the subject of kids getting baptized, it doesn't make sense to baptize a child who has no support from home, or has a strong enough testimony to make it happen on their own. Doing so just puts a huge burden on the ward, and may prevent them from coming to the gospel fully later in life.
So things are going very well, and we are looking forward to having a great week. I found a scripture this week that I love. In 3 Nephi 9:14, we hear the voice of Christ. At the time, all of the destruction after Christ's death had happened in the America's (tempests, earthquakes, fires, floods, etc.) and hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Then, a mist of darkness fell upon the people. This darkness was so thick that no one could start a fire, or see any type of light. It seems that Satan was showing his power and declaring his victory over the world. He had gotten the Savior's own people to kill their Messiah, and Satan was showing his power. Yet, in the darkness, the voice of Christ comes to the people and says: "Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me."
The voice of Christ calls the people, and invites them to come unto Him. If they will come unto him, they can have eternal life. His arm of mercy was still extended to them.
So, to apply this to us, sometimes we reach dark points in our life where is seems all is going wrong and Satan has complete power. At those times, that same invitation can echo clear: "Come unto me, and ye shall have eternal life." The Savior's arm of mercy is extended to one and all, and He has promised us eternal life is we will but turn to Him.
I love you all. Thank you for your continued support and love. I hope everyone is doing well. Keep up the good work and remember to smile!
Elder Kidd
So, I think a lot of people have heard the rumor that in Hawaii, whenever someone begins to talk, they say "Aloha" and everyone responds "Aloha" back. Well, that is true. Sometimes we switch it up and say "Malo e lele" or "Talofo lava" or "Good Morning", but whatever is said, everyone responds back.
We had a good last week though. Elder Call is continuing to improve and progress. He is still scared out of his wits, but not nearly as much anymore. We actually had one of our bishops keep us behind after a meeting yesterday to talk to us (well, mostly him) and say not to be scared.
I think the coolest experience this week happened on Tuesday. Or rather started on Tuesday. We were tracting out a street fairly late at night, and were about done. Well, we looked up to a house, and it looked like there might be someone home, so we figured we would try it. So, we walked to the door, and heard the clattering of dishes and the TV. Let me just say, people don't like to be interupted during dinner and watching TV. Still, we decided to try, so we knocked:
"Who is it?"
"Missionaries."
"We'll be right there!"
The first thought that pops into my head is either: 1) a very mad person, or 2) a member. Well, the door flies open and John Thiele (pronounced Tee-Lee) from Idaho opens the door and invites us in. He was visiting his non-member step-sister because his step-mother is about to pass. So, he invited us in, we shared a message, he shared about the gospel, we left a plan of salvation pamphlet, and left with an assignment to find a member to go with him to give his step-mother a blessing. Well, we found the member, who couldn't go, so a member of our bishoprich ended up going instead. Well, Brother Thiele got up yesterday during sacrament meeting and praised us during his testimony, so now all of the members are impressed (always a good thing) and we are looking forward to going to see his step-sister again soon.
This week we also began teaching a couple of grandsons of a member in our ward, and their non-member mother decided she wants to sit in as well. They have been coming to church for a while now, so we should be able to help them get baptized very soon.
On the subject of kids getting baptized, it doesn't make sense to baptize a child who has no support from home, or has a strong enough testimony to make it happen on their own. Doing so just puts a huge burden on the ward, and may prevent them from coming to the gospel fully later in life.
So things are going very well, and we are looking forward to having a great week. I found a scripture this week that I love. In 3 Nephi 9:14, we hear the voice of Christ. At the time, all of the destruction after Christ's death had happened in the America's (tempests, earthquakes, fires, floods, etc.) and hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Then, a mist of darkness fell upon the people. This darkness was so thick that no one could start a fire, or see any type of light. It seems that Satan was showing his power and declaring his victory over the world. He had gotten the Savior's own people to kill their Messiah, and Satan was showing his power. Yet, in the darkness, the voice of Christ comes to the people and says: "Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me."
The voice of Christ calls the people, and invites them to come unto Him. If they will come unto him, they can have eternal life. His arm of mercy was still extended to them.
So, to apply this to us, sometimes we reach dark points in our life where is seems all is going wrong and Satan has complete power. At those times, that same invitation can echo clear: "Come unto me, and ye shall have eternal life." The Savior's arm of mercy is extended to one and all, and He has promised us eternal life is we will but turn to Him.
I love you all. Thank you for your continued support and love. I hope everyone is doing well. Keep up the good work and remember to smile!
Elder Kidd
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
08/31/2009
Aloha
It's so funny that mom always talks about taking care of myself and not getting sick... because I got sick this last week. I woke up on Tuesday with a slightly upset stomach, a fever, and a severe sore throat. That night the fever broke and my stomach was ok, but I have been coughing and haven't been able to talk since then. Everyone kept saying go home, rest, but we had too many appointments. So, today, our only appointment was dinner with a family with a 1 month old baby, so we aren't going to that tonight, and I am going to get all rested up so that we can have a fantastic week.
Really quickly, it is funny to hear about Chelsi taking classes I took, and I will be interested to see her programming abilities when I get home!
But we had a really good week. Elder Call (my new companion) is great, but very green. It isn't too uncommon for a DL to train in our mission. There really aren't Sr. or Jr. companions out here either. It is just fun for me to have to balance the district and train a new missionary. He pays attention, wants to learn, is willing to learn, but is scared out of his mind. I have a lot of hope for him though, and I know that he will do great. He is from a little town by Tremonton, and you can kinda tell. He weirded me out the most when he told me that back home he would just grab a handful of grain and chew on it... but he's a great kid.
Right now, our biggest news is one of our investigators named Mike. We had taught him a couple times, but kinda lost touch with him. Well, Friday morning he calls to apologize for not talking to us for a while, and tells us that his wife just had a miscariage, his cousin just shot himself, and he was having a lot of trouble with lawyers. I felt so bad, but at the same time had the thought: "He is being prepared," floating across my mind. Well, we brought a fantastic fellowshipper who's wife (we found out at the lesson) had also had a miscariage at one time. So, after watching Together Forever, talking about families, and talking about our a car that our fellowshipper is going to sell to Mike, Mike really wants to come to church, learn more, and we are super excited. He has 5 kids, so there are 7 in the family. I really want to help them reach the temple, because I know that would mean so much to them.
We also keep working with David, and he is coming along. We spent a lot of time talking about eternal families, and he said that is what he wants for his family. Hopefully we will be able to commit him for baptism this week. We also are working with the husband of a recent convert, and we talked about eternal families with them too (isn't temple marriage amazing?). So, with them and a bunch of 9-year-olds we are going to start working with, it seems this is going to be the transfer of Temple and Keiki baptisms. I am super excited. There is so much to be done.
I also had fun this last week in distric meeting. I took Captain Moroni's example and created a "Title of Kailua" to try and get my missionaries motivated. I'm trying to instill a sense of love and respect for the people in them, or Aloha to be true. Too often people out here think we are strangers, but if we love them, they can see what we are sharing is for them. If God is love, then we ought to show love as well.
So, I hope all is going well for everyone. I love you all, and am continually grateful for all you do. Aloha!
Elder Kidd
It's so funny that mom always talks about taking care of myself and not getting sick... because I got sick this last week. I woke up on Tuesday with a slightly upset stomach, a fever, and a severe sore throat. That night the fever broke and my stomach was ok, but I have been coughing and haven't been able to talk since then. Everyone kept saying go home, rest, but we had too many appointments. So, today, our only appointment was dinner with a family with a 1 month old baby, so we aren't going to that tonight, and I am going to get all rested up so that we can have a fantastic week.
Really quickly, it is funny to hear about Chelsi taking classes I took, and I will be interested to see her programming abilities when I get home!
But we had a really good week. Elder Call (my new companion) is great, but very green. It isn't too uncommon for a DL to train in our mission. There really aren't Sr. or Jr. companions out here either. It is just fun for me to have to balance the district and train a new missionary. He pays attention, wants to learn, is willing to learn, but is scared out of his mind. I have a lot of hope for him though, and I know that he will do great. He is from a little town by Tremonton, and you can kinda tell. He weirded me out the most when he told me that back home he would just grab a handful of grain and chew on it... but he's a great kid.
Right now, our biggest news is one of our investigators named Mike. We had taught him a couple times, but kinda lost touch with him. Well, Friday morning he calls to apologize for not talking to us for a while, and tells us that his wife just had a miscariage, his cousin just shot himself, and he was having a lot of trouble with lawyers. I felt so bad, but at the same time had the thought: "He is being prepared," floating across my mind. Well, we brought a fantastic fellowshipper who's wife (we found out at the lesson) had also had a miscariage at one time. So, after watching Together Forever, talking about families, and talking about our a car that our fellowshipper is going to sell to Mike, Mike really wants to come to church, learn more, and we are super excited. He has 5 kids, so there are 7 in the family. I really want to help them reach the temple, because I know that would mean so much to them.
We also keep working with David, and he is coming along. We spent a lot of time talking about eternal families, and he said that is what he wants for his family. Hopefully we will be able to commit him for baptism this week. We also are working with the husband of a recent convert, and we talked about eternal families with them too (isn't temple marriage amazing?). So, with them and a bunch of 9-year-olds we are going to start working with, it seems this is going to be the transfer of Temple and Keiki baptisms. I am super excited. There is so much to be done.
I also had fun this last week in distric meeting. I took Captain Moroni's example and created a "Title of Kailua" to try and get my missionaries motivated. I'm trying to instill a sense of love and respect for the people in them, or Aloha to be true. Too often people out here think we are strangers, but if we love them, they can see what we are sharing is for them. If God is love, then we ought to show love as well.
So, I hope all is going well for everyone. I love you all, and am continually grateful for all you do. Aloha!
Elder Kidd
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
08/24/09
Aloha
Well, I might as well give you the announcement of transfers...... Drum roll please!............ I am staying here, but my companion is flying off the island. What is more....... I am training again (sounds of... well, something). I'm not sure to think right now, but I am super hopeful and confident. I feel a lot more prepared to do it this time, so I hope it all goes well. It will be sad to see Elder Simnitt go, especially when our wards are about to catch fire.
So, it was a good week. The entire district really improved. We had a baptism, and two other areas set up two baptisms a piece. Throw in that we should be able to commit four this week, and Kailua is about to go crazy. I am super excited and proud of my district, and am super excited to help them continue on that path.
We had a good week as well. We still had our struggles, but this week was amazing for finding people to teach. We were able to find four new people to teach this last week, all through tracting (I'm still stunned). This week we should be able to start teaching more people that our members have sent our way, so we are ready to go.
So, the highlight of this last week was that we were able to help Aloha Karratti-Jamora come to the waters of baptism. I don't know how much we did though. She is incredibly smart for a 9 year old, and has way too much attitude too. She's been going to primary for a while though, so I guess that can explain it. We also were able to talk to a lot of former investigators and we should be able to start working with them.
The biggest miracle of this last week was a phone call I got on Friday morning. I answered the phone, and was told that one of our members had a baptism for us. Nelson has been taught the lessons before, but fell through on his date. Well, he has decided that the church is true, and that he wants to be baptized. He is about 80 years old, and my new greenie and I will meet him on Thursday.
Well, the next couple of days will be fun. Elder Simnitt is going to go and say goodbye to all the people he knew. I'm afraid we are running behind today, so I must make this short. I love you all. Remember that the Lord loves you too. Thank you for the love and support you give to me!
Elder Kidd
Well, I might as well give you the announcement of transfers...... Drum roll please!............ I am staying here, but my companion is flying off the island. What is more....... I am training again (sounds of... well, something). I'm not sure to think right now, but I am super hopeful and confident. I feel a lot more prepared to do it this time, so I hope it all goes well. It will be sad to see Elder Simnitt go, especially when our wards are about to catch fire.
So, it was a good week. The entire district really improved. We had a baptism, and two other areas set up two baptisms a piece. Throw in that we should be able to commit four this week, and Kailua is about to go crazy. I am super excited and proud of my district, and am super excited to help them continue on that path.
We had a good week as well. We still had our struggles, but this week was amazing for finding people to teach. We were able to find four new people to teach this last week, all through tracting (I'm still stunned). This week we should be able to start teaching more people that our members have sent our way, so we are ready to go.
So, the highlight of this last week was that we were able to help Aloha Karratti-Jamora come to the waters of baptism. I don't know how much we did though. She is incredibly smart for a 9 year old, and has way too much attitude too. She's been going to primary for a while though, so I guess that can explain it. We also were able to talk to a lot of former investigators and we should be able to start working with them.
The biggest miracle of this last week was a phone call I got on Friday morning. I answered the phone, and was told that one of our members had a baptism for us. Nelson has been taught the lessons before, but fell through on his date. Well, he has decided that the church is true, and that he wants to be baptized. He is about 80 years old, and my new greenie and I will meet him on Thursday.
Well, the next couple of days will be fun. Elder Simnitt is going to go and say goodbye to all the people he knew. I'm afraid we are running behind today, so I must make this short. I love you all. Remember that the Lord loves you too. Thank you for the love and support you give to me!
Elder Kidd
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
08/17/09
Aloha
It has been a good, frustraiting, uplifting, discouraging, exciting, patience-learing week. So, in other words, was a usual week.
We had a lot of appointments set up for this week. We figured it out, we set up about 12 lessons to teach investigators that we were going to have a member with us for. Well, five of those bailed out on us, which was a little discouraging. On the other hand, our bishop called us up and set up an appointment for us with a less-active/part member family. The wife is less active, but is also the daughter of a family from the ward I served in on Kauai. How crazy is that? Her husband and daughter are not members, but the daughter wants to be baptized, and the father is very attentive. The problem is, the mom is having a really hard time, and is in some programs, which makes it difficult to teach. The father and daughter were going to come to church yesterday, but didn't show up, and we don't have a number for them, but we are still super excited.
We also had a mission conference with Elder Kikuchi this last week. It is amazing to hear how many in our family have had some sort of contact with him. He was amazing, and funny at the same time. Most of us (I'm afraid my companion was nodding off) left feeling super motivated and uplifted. He gave us some great ideas as well, so we are excited to impliment those too.
With David, the one we committed but are teaching more privately now, we had a really good discussion with him on Thursday night. He has had some pretty powerful and scarey experiences, so he is really wanting to make sure he makes the right choice for his family. But, I think he knows he will get baptized soon. We also learned that he grew up southern baptist for a bit, so we are weeding out the anti stuff he heard. Loads of fun.
Well, this morning we went on a fun hike, and tomorrow we are having our district meeting in the bottanical gardens (which I believe is where some of Jurrassic Park was filmed) so it should be good. I need to go buy new batteries for my camera... they get drained so fast it is annoying. Anyway, next week I will be able to tell you about a baptism, and what is happening for transfers! I love you all. Thanks for the support that you give me!
Elder Kidd
It has been a good, frustraiting, uplifting, discouraging, exciting, patience-learing week. So, in other words, was a usual week.
We had a lot of appointments set up for this week. We figured it out, we set up about 12 lessons to teach investigators that we were going to have a member with us for. Well, five of those bailed out on us, which was a little discouraging. On the other hand, our bishop called us up and set up an appointment for us with a less-active/part member family. The wife is less active, but is also the daughter of a family from the ward I served in on Kauai. How crazy is that? Her husband and daughter are not members, but the daughter wants to be baptized, and the father is very attentive. The problem is, the mom is having a really hard time, and is in some programs, which makes it difficult to teach. The father and daughter were going to come to church yesterday, but didn't show up, and we don't have a number for them, but we are still super excited.
We also had a mission conference with Elder Kikuchi this last week. It is amazing to hear how many in our family have had some sort of contact with him. He was amazing, and funny at the same time. Most of us (I'm afraid my companion was nodding off) left feeling super motivated and uplifted. He gave us some great ideas as well, so we are excited to impliment those too.
With David, the one we committed but are teaching more privately now, we had a really good discussion with him on Thursday night. He has had some pretty powerful and scarey experiences, so he is really wanting to make sure he makes the right choice for his family. But, I think he knows he will get baptized soon. We also learned that he grew up southern baptist for a bit, so we are weeding out the anti stuff he heard. Loads of fun.
Well, this morning we went on a fun hike, and tomorrow we are having our district meeting in the bottanical gardens (which I believe is where some of Jurrassic Park was filmed) so it should be good. I need to go buy new batteries for my camera... they get drained so fast it is annoying. Anyway, next week I will be able to tell you about a baptism, and what is happening for transfers! I love you all. Thanks for the support that you give me!
Elder Kidd
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
08/10/09
Aloha and happy birthday
Yes, first of all I would like to wish a happy birthday to Aubree today! Happy birthday. Also a quick note to Aubree, the idea sounds ok, but it might take a bit of time to get it done.
Also, to answer mom's questions, I haven't ordered contacts, but I have enough for a little while longer, could you please order some, I take my vitamins, but since I didn't at the start of the mission, I have a bit still, and I got my new debit card... I think that was all of them.
So, we had a really good week this last week. We were able to begin teaching 4 new people, committed one of those for baptism, and committed one other guy for baptism. But more explainations.
Monday night we were able to begin teaching this lady named Chindel. She seems really nice, but it also looks as though she had some drug use in the past, and it messed with her brain and body a little bit. She loves to read though, and we are going back tonight to teach her some more.
Tuesday we had a good day. We began with district meeting, where I trained on the conversion process. I taught that we ourselves, and our investigators have to follow a pattern, or circle. We have to have a desire, which leads to us gaining more knowledge, which leads to an action (usually prayer), and finally we receive a spiritual experience or change of heart. Then we have to use that experience to create a desire again, either to learn more or to share what we know. But, the center of this circle is Christ, and like a dog tied to a tree, as we go around and around the circle, the rope or distance from the center gets shorter and shorter. In our analogy, we grow closer to Christ. I thought it went well.
Anyway, Wednesday we went on an exchange with the Zone Leaders. Elder Tominaha and I had a great day. Most of our lessons canceled on us, but we were able to find a new investigator, and we committed David for the 28th of this month (more to come on that story later). It was a hard, but great day in the end, and we were extremely busy.
Thursday Elder Simnitt returned, and we had a fantastic day. We were able to teach 4 lessons and had members with us for each. We taught Loretta again, then we went and taught two new investigators our Warm Mission Leader found for us. One is a former investigator that is going to go to the Laie Visitor Center this week, and the other is a 9 year old girl named Aloha, who is the grandaughter of a member in our ward. She is going to get baptized on the 23rd.
Anyway, we'll skip Friday because I don't remember much. Saturday I had Elder Aldridge with me on an exchange. It has only been a few months since we were companions, so it was interesting. Well, we went by David again, and he told us that he felt a little too pressured, and wasn't going to be ready by the 28th. He still wants to get baptized and be an eternal family though, so he wants to meet on a more private level, so we are happy to obligue. That night we went to a baptisimal service with Loretta, which went well. Elder Stewart (now Brother Stewart) and his family are back to visit, so they came as well. It was fun to meet them. Elder Simnitt was feeling sick, but he got feeling better by the end. Lorretta seemed to like it as well.
So, Sunday, church. Well, church was church. What was cool is that we took Loretta (we saw her a lot this week) to a fireside in Honolulu with Elder Kikuchi, who used to be the mission president here, and has an article in the ensign this month (highly recommended). It was awesome. He is a very powerful speaker, and we are looking forward to our Zone Conference with him this Thursday. We didn't get to talk to Loretta much about it, but we are definatley going to see her this week, and soon. She was touched by it, we could tell. Also, at one point Elder Kikuchi asked me a question as we were sitting on the front row. Well, he was asking who Alma's friend was that took him into his home and cared for him. So he looks down at me and asks, "Well, Elder?" So, I yelled out Amulek. My mission president joked with me afterwards if I hadn't know it, he would have sent me home. So no pressure. But it was amazing.
On a fun note, a tropical storm should be hitting us sometime today, but it should be alright. We will be safe and sound. We're mostly just worried about the other Hurricanes out there right now, but we are well prepared, and the Lord will watch over us.
Thank you all for your continued support, love, and encouragement. I love you all so much!
Elder Kidd
Yes, first of all I would like to wish a happy birthday to Aubree today! Happy birthday. Also a quick note to Aubree, the idea sounds ok, but it might take a bit of time to get it done.
Also, to answer mom's questions, I haven't ordered contacts, but I have enough for a little while longer, could you please order some, I take my vitamins, but since I didn't at the start of the mission, I have a bit still, and I got my new debit card... I think that was all of them.
So, we had a really good week this last week. We were able to begin teaching 4 new people, committed one of those for baptism, and committed one other guy for baptism. But more explainations.
Monday night we were able to begin teaching this lady named Chindel. She seems really nice, but it also looks as though she had some drug use in the past, and it messed with her brain and body a little bit. She loves to read though, and we are going back tonight to teach her some more.
Tuesday we had a good day. We began with district meeting, where I trained on the conversion process. I taught that we ourselves, and our investigators have to follow a pattern, or circle. We have to have a desire, which leads to us gaining more knowledge, which leads to an action (usually prayer), and finally we receive a spiritual experience or change of heart. Then we have to use that experience to create a desire again, either to learn more or to share what we know. But, the center of this circle is Christ, and like a dog tied to a tree, as we go around and around the circle, the rope or distance from the center gets shorter and shorter. In our analogy, we grow closer to Christ. I thought it went well.
Anyway, Wednesday we went on an exchange with the Zone Leaders. Elder Tominaha and I had a great day. Most of our lessons canceled on us, but we were able to find a new investigator, and we committed David for the 28th of this month (more to come on that story later). It was a hard, but great day in the end, and we were extremely busy.
Thursday Elder Simnitt returned, and we had a fantastic day. We were able to teach 4 lessons and had members with us for each. We taught Loretta again, then we went and taught two new investigators our Warm Mission Leader found for us. One is a former investigator that is going to go to the Laie Visitor Center this week, and the other is a 9 year old girl named Aloha, who is the grandaughter of a member in our ward. She is going to get baptized on the 23rd.
Anyway, we'll skip Friday because I don't remember much. Saturday I had Elder Aldridge with me on an exchange. It has only been a few months since we were companions, so it was interesting. Well, we went by David again, and he told us that he felt a little too pressured, and wasn't going to be ready by the 28th. He still wants to get baptized and be an eternal family though, so he wants to meet on a more private level, so we are happy to obligue. That night we went to a baptisimal service with Loretta, which went well. Elder Stewart (now Brother Stewart) and his family are back to visit, so they came as well. It was fun to meet them. Elder Simnitt was feeling sick, but he got feeling better by the end. Lorretta seemed to like it as well.
So, Sunday, church. Well, church was church. What was cool is that we took Loretta (we saw her a lot this week) to a fireside in Honolulu with Elder Kikuchi, who used to be the mission president here, and has an article in the ensign this month (highly recommended). It was awesome. He is a very powerful speaker, and we are looking forward to our Zone Conference with him this Thursday. We didn't get to talk to Loretta much about it, but we are definatley going to see her this week, and soon. She was touched by it, we could tell. Also, at one point Elder Kikuchi asked me a question as we were sitting on the front row. Well, he was asking who Alma's friend was that took him into his home and cared for him. So he looks down at me and asks, "Well, Elder?" So, I yelled out Amulek. My mission president joked with me afterwards if I hadn't know it, he would have sent me home. So no pressure. But it was amazing.
On a fun note, a tropical storm should be hitting us sometime today, but it should be alright. We will be safe and sound. We're mostly just worried about the other Hurricanes out there right now, but we are well prepared, and the Lord will watch over us.
Thank you all for your continued support, love, and encouragement. I love you all so much!
Elder Kidd
Monday, August 3, 2009
08/03/09
Aloha!
I love what one of the sister missionaries in my district said to me last night: "We are expecting miracles. We are going to have to go through the trials to be able to see those miracles." It really seems to be that way for our district at the moment.
We had a good week, but definately had some struggles. Elder Simnitt and I had a wonderful start of the week, but a lot of things feel through by the end. We had some good solid lessons, and I think it will lead to a lot in the near future, but it didn't have any initial results. We tried to commit the husband of the lady that got baptized last week, and he is sure that he isn't ready. Well, were pretty sure that with her working on him, he should be ready soon. They both want to go to the temple, and all we have to do is point out that baptism is the step in that direction. Unfortunately he sees no rush. But we have much hope.
I had an interesting baptisimal interview this last week. It took about an hour. The guy had a lot of questions and concerns, but seemed ready by the end. I was wondering about some of his questions, and then we found out yesterday that his roommate is an ex-communicated member, and has been feeding him a bunch of anti stuff. He has postponed his baptism for now, but I have great faith in the missionaries, and I think he will be back on track soon.
I also had a really good exchange with a new elder on Saturday. He has been having a lot of struggles, but we were able to have a good talk, and he felt a lot better by the end of the day. It is interesting to see someone else at that point, but wonderful to be able to help them through those same struggles. It was a wonderful experience.
Oh, a bit of cool info... there is a store over here called Long's Drugs. Well, they sell a bit of everything. The biggest thing is some eastern candy. Well, imagine my surprise when an elder in our zone mentions Tim Tams... yes, they sell tim tams here. So, if anyone wants some that don't have to be shipped from Australia... They are about $3-$4 a package. There may not be an incredible selection, but it has been amazing to have some tim-tam slams.
Well, I hope all is going well for everyone. We are looking forward to this week, and are super excited. We have seen trials, and now we have faith that the Lord will bring miracles. I love you all!
Elder Kidd
I love what one of the sister missionaries in my district said to me last night: "We are expecting miracles. We are going to have to go through the trials to be able to see those miracles." It really seems to be that way for our district at the moment.
We had a good week, but definately had some struggles. Elder Simnitt and I had a wonderful start of the week, but a lot of things feel through by the end. We had some good solid lessons, and I think it will lead to a lot in the near future, but it didn't have any initial results. We tried to commit the husband of the lady that got baptized last week, and he is sure that he isn't ready. Well, were pretty sure that with her working on him, he should be ready soon. They both want to go to the temple, and all we have to do is point out that baptism is the step in that direction. Unfortunately he sees no rush. But we have much hope.
I had an interesting baptisimal interview this last week. It took about an hour. The guy had a lot of questions and concerns, but seemed ready by the end. I was wondering about some of his questions, and then we found out yesterday that his roommate is an ex-communicated member, and has been feeding him a bunch of anti stuff. He has postponed his baptism for now, but I have great faith in the missionaries, and I think he will be back on track soon.
I also had a really good exchange with a new elder on Saturday. He has been having a lot of struggles, but we were able to have a good talk, and he felt a lot better by the end of the day. It is interesting to see someone else at that point, but wonderful to be able to help them through those same struggles. It was a wonderful experience.
Oh, a bit of cool info... there is a store over here called Long's Drugs. Well, they sell a bit of everything. The biggest thing is some eastern candy. Well, imagine my surprise when an elder in our zone mentions Tim Tams... yes, they sell tim tams here. So, if anyone wants some that don't have to be shipped from Australia... They are about $3-$4 a package. There may not be an incredible selection, but it has been amazing to have some tim-tam slams.
Well, I hope all is going well for everyone. We are looking forward to this week, and are super excited. We have seen trials, and now we have faith that the Lord will bring miracles. I love you all!
Elder Kidd
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
07/27/09
Aloha!
So, it has been another great week. Yesterday was my companion's birthday, and we had a baptism as well. It was nice that I got to meet Jessica (the girl that got baptized) on Saturday and actually teach her before Sunday. I sang at the program, and everyone seemed to like it. The 1st councilor in the bishopbric told me I have to be here for Christmas so I can sing then. So, maybe I will be hanging out in Kaneohe for a while. I would be ok with that.
Our week went well, even though we had some struggles. We had a lot of appointments with people we found tracting that weren't there for their appointment, but that is usual. It just shows once again that you need to get the members involved. We did find one cool guy from the Philippeans who seems interested. We dropped a book of Mormon off yesterday in Tagolog (his native tongue), and he seemed very appriciative. The funny part is that a JW was there teaching another kid while we were waiting for Willie. We resisted the urge to bash with him, and he didn't look at us.
That has been something fun I've noticed about my mission. I have learned a lot about different religions and why they are almost completely crazy. It seems so amazing. Our church just makes sence. It answers all the questions, and so simply... but some don't see it that way, so we go out every day to share those answers with them.
Our next week is looking amazing. We have a lot of lessons schedualed, one with a lady named Lorretta. She has been looking into the church for years, comes to church occasionally, and her brother is a member and told her to get baptized. She just seems to find these little reasons to not join. So, we talked to her about the mighty change of heart that the spirit can bring (Alma 5) into our lives, and we are going back over tomorrow. Throw in a few other people that we are going to start teaching soon, and we are really excited.
I think I need to clarify a little from my email last week. I didn't mean that my companion is a drama king as in he can act, I mean that he is a drama king as in he makes every little thing a huge deal. We have an opptimist serving with a pecimist that is trying to pass simply as a realist (remind anyone of Hitch?), but there is a lot of possibility. Hopefully I can help him, as well as the rest of my district.
This last week, I trained my district on how essential it is to have members with us throughout the whole teaching process, from finding to committing. Next week when I train them again, I am going to go over the conversion process, and also how we need to apply that to ourselves so much, and search for that mighty change of heart in our own service. I know I experienced it, and I am so glad that the spirit was able to do that for me.
I hope all is going well. From the pictures Chelsi sent, it looks like Getta and Gracie are getting so big. Thank you all for your support, and I love you so much!
Elder Kidd
So, it has been another great week. Yesterday was my companion's birthday, and we had a baptism as well. It was nice that I got to meet Jessica (the girl that got baptized) on Saturday and actually teach her before Sunday. I sang at the program, and everyone seemed to like it. The 1st councilor in the bishopbric told me I have to be here for Christmas so I can sing then. So, maybe I will be hanging out in Kaneohe for a while. I would be ok with that.
Our week went well, even though we had some struggles. We had a lot of appointments with people we found tracting that weren't there for their appointment, but that is usual. It just shows once again that you need to get the members involved. We did find one cool guy from the Philippeans who seems interested. We dropped a book of Mormon off yesterday in Tagolog (his native tongue), and he seemed very appriciative. The funny part is that a JW was there teaching another kid while we were waiting for Willie. We resisted the urge to bash with him, and he didn't look at us.
That has been something fun I've noticed about my mission. I have learned a lot about different religions and why they are almost completely crazy. It seems so amazing. Our church just makes sence. It answers all the questions, and so simply... but some don't see it that way, so we go out every day to share those answers with them.
Our next week is looking amazing. We have a lot of lessons schedualed, one with a lady named Lorretta. She has been looking into the church for years, comes to church occasionally, and her brother is a member and told her to get baptized. She just seems to find these little reasons to not join. So, we talked to her about the mighty change of heart that the spirit can bring (Alma 5) into our lives, and we are going back over tomorrow. Throw in a few other people that we are going to start teaching soon, and we are really excited.
I think I need to clarify a little from my email last week. I didn't mean that my companion is a drama king as in he can act, I mean that he is a drama king as in he makes every little thing a huge deal. We have an opptimist serving with a pecimist that is trying to pass simply as a realist (remind anyone of Hitch?), but there is a lot of possibility. Hopefully I can help him, as well as the rest of my district.
This last week, I trained my district on how essential it is to have members with us throughout the whole teaching process, from finding to committing. Next week when I train them again, I am going to go over the conversion process, and also how we need to apply that to ourselves so much, and search for that mighty change of heart in our own service. I know I experienced it, and I am so glad that the spirit was able to do that for me.
I hope all is going well. From the pictures Chelsi sent, it looks like Getta and Gracie are getting so big. Thank you all for your support, and I love you so much!
Elder Kidd
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
07/20/09
Aloha from Kaneohe
The challenge for every organization is to build a feeling of oneness, of dependence on one another...because the question is usually not how well each person works, but how well they work together.
I wanted to leave the quote mom sent me on here, and I will explain why in a few minutes. Anyway, Aloha from Kaneohe, or more specifically from Kailua, Waimanalo, and Olomana. My district is in Kailua, which is fairly big, and my two wards are Waimanalo and Olomana, which are largely hawaiian homesteads, so I have officially entered a hawaiian ward. I finally will get to make good use of my Hawaiian Hymm book I got in Kauai. Most everything is in english, but they usually do atleast one song in Hawaiian.
Some good news about things in Hilo. I managed to get a few copies of pictures from other missionaries, so I still have a couple of pictures from Mauna Kea and a couple of other places. Also, I got a lot of pictures with people as I left, was happy to know that I did make an impact in the wards.
But, onto the present. Kaneohe, Waimanalo, and Olomana. My companion is Elder Simnitt from Portland, Oregon. He is a wonderful kid, and very unique. He was a drama king in high school, and has brought a bit of that with him out here, which makes some things fun, but we are doing really well. He is the fifth in a row from his generation(group he came out with from the MTC) that I have been companions with. He was actually companions with Elder Aldridge and Elder Higley in the MTC, so now I've been companions with all three. I've officially decided that his generation will from now on have to refer to me as Uncle John.
Another funny thing, Elder Aldridge is in my district, so I will get to go on exchanges with him and be companions for a day. It is going to be really interesting.
Right now in our wards, I am still trying to get most things figured out, like who the people are (members and non-members). It seems that our wards aren't extremely involved, and one ward doesn't have a lot of trust for missionaries, because the missionaries haven't cared enough to show that they care about the ward. We have some plans to change this, and I think that these two wards will be amazing. They will probably split the missionaries next transfer though, so I will probably be over only one. But, we are excited about this transfer.
This last Friday I gave my first training as a district leader, and I think it went really well. Our mission president talked to us in our last zone conference about Zion, and how to become Zion. So, I extended the challenge to my district. I asked them to begin with themselves, then move to their companionship. As they did that, I promised they would begin to help their wards, and our district would become more zionlike as well(this is why I left that quote at the start). It was an amazing experience for me, because I felt the spirit so strong telling me what to say. I asked all the companionships to come up with a Standard of Excelence (or weekly goal) that they wanted to achieve for a certain number of our key indicators (lessons, new investigators, etc.). I also asked them to set a goal for the number of baptisms they wanted to have that transfer. Well, as a district we totaled 17 baptisms this transfer. While I was talking to them, I promised them we would reach 20 if they would follow my training and become a zionlike district. I am super excited about this next six weeks.
We actually have a lady who is going to get baptized this next Sunday right after church, and we should be able to commit her husband soon as well (well, i think so... I haven't met either one yet...) And we have six people with a set date right now. I did my first baptisimal interview yesterday, and that was a fun experience. That lady's name is Malia, and she is super solid. One of the companionships in our district is two sister missionaries, and they are doing some amazing work. The only problem is, now I feel super responsible to make sure they are ok and taken care of. I was raised too much of a gentleman.
So, all is going great in Kaneohe. We went on a hike as a zone this morning, and it was a lot of fun. I can feel everyone pulling closer together. It's going to be awesome. Keep up the good work at home, and I love you all!
Elder Kidd
The challenge for every organization is to build a feeling of oneness, of dependence on one another...because the question is usually not how well each person works, but how well they work together.
I wanted to leave the quote mom sent me on here, and I will explain why in a few minutes. Anyway, Aloha from Kaneohe, or more specifically from Kailua, Waimanalo, and Olomana. My district is in Kailua, which is fairly big, and my two wards are Waimanalo and Olomana, which are largely hawaiian homesteads, so I have officially entered a hawaiian ward. I finally will get to make good use of my Hawaiian Hymm book I got in Kauai. Most everything is in english, but they usually do atleast one song in Hawaiian.
Some good news about things in Hilo. I managed to get a few copies of pictures from other missionaries, so I still have a couple of pictures from Mauna Kea and a couple of other places. Also, I got a lot of pictures with people as I left, was happy to know that I did make an impact in the wards.
But, onto the present. Kaneohe, Waimanalo, and Olomana. My companion is Elder Simnitt from Portland, Oregon. He is a wonderful kid, and very unique. He was a drama king in high school, and has brought a bit of that with him out here, which makes some things fun, but we are doing really well. He is the fifth in a row from his generation(group he came out with from the MTC) that I have been companions with. He was actually companions with Elder Aldridge and Elder Higley in the MTC, so now I've been companions with all three. I've officially decided that his generation will from now on have to refer to me as Uncle John.
Another funny thing, Elder Aldridge is in my district, so I will get to go on exchanges with him and be companions for a day. It is going to be really interesting.
Right now in our wards, I am still trying to get most things figured out, like who the people are (members and non-members). It seems that our wards aren't extremely involved, and one ward doesn't have a lot of trust for missionaries, because the missionaries haven't cared enough to show that they care about the ward. We have some plans to change this, and I think that these two wards will be amazing. They will probably split the missionaries next transfer though, so I will probably be over only one. But, we are excited about this transfer.
This last Friday I gave my first training as a district leader, and I think it went really well. Our mission president talked to us in our last zone conference about Zion, and how to become Zion. So, I extended the challenge to my district. I asked them to begin with themselves, then move to their companionship. As they did that, I promised they would begin to help their wards, and our district would become more zionlike as well(this is why I left that quote at the start). It was an amazing experience for me, because I felt the spirit so strong telling me what to say. I asked all the companionships to come up with a Standard of Excelence (or weekly goal) that they wanted to achieve for a certain number of our key indicators (lessons, new investigators, etc.). I also asked them to set a goal for the number of baptisms they wanted to have that transfer. Well, as a district we totaled 17 baptisms this transfer. While I was talking to them, I promised them we would reach 20 if they would follow my training and become a zionlike district. I am super excited about this next six weeks.
We actually have a lady who is going to get baptized this next Sunday right after church, and we should be able to commit her husband soon as well (well, i think so... I haven't met either one yet...) And we have six people with a set date right now. I did my first baptisimal interview yesterday, and that was a fun experience. That lady's name is Malia, and she is super solid. One of the companionships in our district is two sister missionaries, and they are doing some amazing work. The only problem is, now I feel super responsible to make sure they are ok and taken care of. I was raised too much of a gentleman.
So, all is going great in Kaneohe. We went on a hike as a zone this morning, and it was a lot of fun. I can feel everyone pulling closer together. It's going to be awesome. Keep up the good work at home, and I love you all!
Elder Kidd
Monday, July 13, 2009
07/13/09
Aloha Big Island
Yep, I'm headed off of the island. We got the call last night, and I am headed back to O'ahu. Then we got another call this morning, and I found out that I will be a District Leader on O'ahu. So, may the Lord bless me in my future endevors.
It has been a great last week though. Unfortuanately Robert and Carey both dogged out of their appointments, but we had a different experience. On Tuesday, we began teaching a guy by the name of Justin Keola Texiera. He is probably the most solid investigator I have ever had. He loved the lesson, so we came back on Saturday. He loved that lesson, so we got him clothes for church. He loved church, and he and his wife (a less active member) have an appointment with the bishop for Tuesday night. He has felt the spirit, he's read atleast all of 2 Nephi and possibly more, and loves the missionaries. I'm grateful the Lord gave me this opportunity to meet him and begin working with him before I leave.
So, that was the greatest part of the week. Other than that, we did our usual. We met with Preston and had a good lesson with him, but we haven't been able to meet with him for about a week. They are a busy family, but hopefully we will see them tonight. Anthony is doing well, we have just been waiting for the courts so we could get him baptized. They are foster boys and their Aunt and Uncle are trying to adopt them. They finally have a court day this week, so hopefully that will go through.
So, it will be fun the next day or two, going to see everyone. I don't know if I will be able to replace the pictures from the memory card that was lost because it is raining today, but I can get them another time. I will remember the places that I want to go to for pictures.
I hope everyone is doing well. Thank you for your continued support, and encouragement. I love you all!
Elder Kidd
Yep, I'm headed off of the island. We got the call last night, and I am headed back to O'ahu. Then we got another call this morning, and I found out that I will be a District Leader on O'ahu. So, may the Lord bless me in my future endevors.
It has been a great last week though. Unfortuanately Robert and Carey both dogged out of their appointments, but we had a different experience. On Tuesday, we began teaching a guy by the name of Justin Keola Texiera. He is probably the most solid investigator I have ever had. He loved the lesson, so we came back on Saturday. He loved that lesson, so we got him clothes for church. He loved church, and he and his wife (a less active member) have an appointment with the bishop for Tuesday night. He has felt the spirit, he's read atleast all of 2 Nephi and possibly more, and loves the missionaries. I'm grateful the Lord gave me this opportunity to meet him and begin working with him before I leave.
So, that was the greatest part of the week. Other than that, we did our usual. We met with Preston and had a good lesson with him, but we haven't been able to meet with him for about a week. They are a busy family, but hopefully we will see them tonight. Anthony is doing well, we have just been waiting for the courts so we could get him baptized. They are foster boys and their Aunt and Uncle are trying to adopt them. They finally have a court day this week, so hopefully that will go through.
So, it will be fun the next day or two, going to see everyone. I don't know if I will be able to replace the pictures from the memory card that was lost because it is raining today, but I can get them another time. I will remember the places that I want to go to for pictures.
I hope everyone is doing well. Thank you for your continued support, and encouragement. I love you all!
Elder Kidd
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
07/06/09
Aloha and happy ID4!
It seems like an amazing week, yet when we looked at our numbers for the week, and they were a lot lower than we expected. Either way, the week seemed to go well, we worked hard, and got a lot done (except for the 4th. Hard to do anything when EVERYONE is on the beach).
Anyway... updates. Carey O'oka is struggling a lot, and has relapsed a bit on his smoking. Also, he seems to be sinking into another depression, so we are going to try to help him build his faith in his Savior and endure through. It looks like it is going to take a bit more time.
We are working with a man named Preston Ducosin, who has been married to an active member for about 16 years or so. He has never been baptized, but has gotten close a couple of times. Well, he wants to be able to baptize and confirm his son, who is 7 right now. He loves the missionaries, and he and his wife would do anything for us. In fact, last Monday they gave us mac&cheese, and a suave soap and lotion kit. We have another appointment tonight. Preston has said that he has been picturing his baptism, he just isn't sure when it is going to be, so we are going to continue working with him and helping him to his goal.
We also were able to work with Anthony this week as well. They finally have a court date for next week, so hopefully we will be able to finally have all the legal issues out of the way.
The craziest thing happened on Tuesday though. I went on an exhchange with our ZL's in their ward. Well, we had one appointment cancel, so we went to see another lady (aunty Lily), and all hell broke loose:
We came and she(aunty lily) started talking to us about how the cops had just come and left. They wanted to take her "friend" that has been living with her for a while. Well, she swore at them (and kind of to us as she was telling us) and they left. Apparently she usually is a super nice lady, and super active. Well, we show up, talk to her for a bit and she starts into her son and sister. While we're sitting there, who should drive up but... THE SISTER(sister Crawley)!! So, they argued a bit, and we tried to leave, but the sister asked us to stay. So, there we are standing by our car, wondering what the heck is going on (especially me since I know none of these people). While they continue to argue, who should drive up behind us but... THE SON(Scott) and his family. They run out to join the sister and start pleading with Aunty Lily to get her to come with them to a meeting with the bishop (that she didn't go to the day before). Well, meanwhile, the "Friend" (Collin) is telling her not to go. Well, Scott tries to cast him out or something, and he leaves. Eventually they get her to come out of the house. Scott hugs her, and they convince her to go with them.
So, it takes a little bit to get her into the car, and Aunty Lily wants her purse. So, Aunty Lily's sister (Sister Crawley) convince Collin to give her Aunty Lily's purse. Meanwhile, Scott and his family leave with Aunty Lily, taking both cars. So, we have to take Sister Crawley with us to the church. On the way, she informs us the Aunty Lily has changed since Collin moved in with her, and apparently they are engaged now. Collin has a rap sheet a mile long, and has threatened Scott and sister Crawley. Collin creeped me out.
On the way back, Aunty Lily had been riding with Scott, but they moved her to the other car with Scott's wife. Right by the church, we catch up to them, and look into the car with Aunty Lily and Scott's wife to see: Aunty Lily trying to beat the trash out of Scott's wife. So, Sister Crawley runs out of the car, Scott gets out of his car, and they escort Aunty Lily to the church, we get all the cars in, and then Elder Miller and I run away. Great thing is, during that time, no one asked for my name. Ok, follow that?
The rest of the week went well though. Saturday no one was home, so we eventually went out with the missionaries to watch the fireworks which was a lot of fun, and we took lots of pictures. Which you will see soon. So, that really was the big point of the week.
It has been great the last little while to once again be able to testify repeatedly about Joseph Smith and about the Atonement, two of our greatest messages. With a knowledge that Christ suffered for our sins, and has felt all of our pains, we know that we can endure anything. Knowing the heavens are not sealed, and that there are prophets again, we know that we are guided through everything. These are the basis that we build upon. Thank you all for your continued support. I love you all!
Elder Kidd
It seems like an amazing week, yet when we looked at our numbers for the week, and they were a lot lower than we expected. Either way, the week seemed to go well, we worked hard, and got a lot done (except for the 4th. Hard to do anything when EVERYONE is on the beach).
Anyway... updates. Carey O'oka is struggling a lot, and has relapsed a bit on his smoking. Also, he seems to be sinking into another depression, so we are going to try to help him build his faith in his Savior and endure through. It looks like it is going to take a bit more time.
We are working with a man named Preston Ducosin, who has been married to an active member for about 16 years or so. He has never been baptized, but has gotten close a couple of times. Well, he wants to be able to baptize and confirm his son, who is 7 right now. He loves the missionaries, and he and his wife would do anything for us. In fact, last Monday they gave us mac&cheese, and a suave soap and lotion kit. We have another appointment tonight. Preston has said that he has been picturing his baptism, he just isn't sure when it is going to be, so we are going to continue working with him and helping him to his goal.
We also were able to work with Anthony this week as well. They finally have a court date for next week, so hopefully we will be able to finally have all the legal issues out of the way.
The craziest thing happened on Tuesday though. I went on an exhchange with our ZL's in their ward. Well, we had one appointment cancel, so we went to see another lady (aunty Lily), and all hell broke loose:
We came and she(aunty lily) started talking to us about how the cops had just come and left. They wanted to take her "friend" that has been living with her for a while. Well, she swore at them (and kind of to us as she was telling us) and they left. Apparently she usually is a super nice lady, and super active. Well, we show up, talk to her for a bit and she starts into her son and sister. While we're sitting there, who should drive up but... THE SISTER(sister Crawley)!! So, they argued a bit, and we tried to leave, but the sister asked us to stay. So, there we are standing by our car, wondering what the heck is going on (especially me since I know none of these people). While they continue to argue, who should drive up behind us but... THE SON(Scott) and his family. They run out to join the sister and start pleading with Aunty Lily to get her to come with them to a meeting with the bishop (that she didn't go to the day before). Well, meanwhile, the "Friend" (Collin) is telling her not to go. Well, Scott tries to cast him out or something, and he leaves. Eventually they get her to come out of the house. Scott hugs her, and they convince her to go with them.
So, it takes a little bit to get her into the car, and Aunty Lily wants her purse. So, Aunty Lily's sister (Sister Crawley) convince Collin to give her Aunty Lily's purse. Meanwhile, Scott and his family leave with Aunty Lily, taking both cars. So, we have to take Sister Crawley with us to the church. On the way, she informs us the Aunty Lily has changed since Collin moved in with her, and apparently they are engaged now. Collin has a rap sheet a mile long, and has threatened Scott and sister Crawley. Collin creeped me out.
On the way back, Aunty Lily had been riding with Scott, but they moved her to the other car with Scott's wife. Right by the church, we catch up to them, and look into the car with Aunty Lily and Scott's wife to see: Aunty Lily trying to beat the trash out of Scott's wife. So, Sister Crawley runs out of the car, Scott gets out of his car, and they escort Aunty Lily to the church, we get all the cars in, and then Elder Miller and I run away. Great thing is, during that time, no one asked for my name. Ok, follow that?
The rest of the week went well though. Saturday no one was home, so we eventually went out with the missionaries to watch the fireworks which was a lot of fun, and we took lots of pictures. Which you will see soon. So, that really was the big point of the week.
It has been great the last little while to once again be able to testify repeatedly about Joseph Smith and about the Atonement, two of our greatest messages. With a knowledge that Christ suffered for our sins, and has felt all of our pains, we know that we can endure anything. Knowing the heavens are not sealed, and that there are prophets again, we know that we are guided through everything. These are the basis that we build upon. Thank you all for your continued support. I love you all!
Elder Kidd
Thursday, July 2, 2009
06/29/09
Mauna KeaMauna Kea is a very big, tall, dormant volcanoe. And it was very cold up there in the morning. While driving up, I watched the thermomiter in the car dip down to about 38-39, but start back up again and settle at about 43-45. And we were so glad it did. I don't have any coats (seeing as it is Hawaii and figured I wouldn't need any) so with simply a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a button up shirt, I was cold. Well, so were the other four missionaries and the member that took us up there. Figure, we are all used to 65 and above. In fact, 65 is really cold anymore to all of us. So, 45 is very cold. But it was awesome.
We got to watch the sunrise, and even got to go into one of the observatories. Brother Tanaka that took us up ownes an construction company and does a lot of electrical work, and has worked on many if not all of the observatories. So, we got to go in. Those things are huge. The scientists must have a lot of patience though. Apparently they sometimes spend a week looking for a source of light that may not exist. Lots of patience.
But, on the way down we stopped by Brother Tanaka's house so that he could show us his trophie room. I attatched one picture of that, so I think you can get an idea of the types of trophies he has.
But it has been a good week. It actually was one of the harder weeks I have had so far in Hilo though. We had 4 lessons lined up for Monday and Tuesday... 3 canceled, and one the fellowshipper didn't make it. That one though was with Preston Ducosin. He is married to a member, who is active, and has nearly gotten baptized before. Well, his son turns 8 next year, and he wants to be able to baptize and confirm him, therefore we have a goal. The greatest part is that he doesn't want to be just a number, so Elder Thomson and I assured him that we hate numbers, and that we want to help him. He is a great guy, and I am looking forward to working with him more.
Carey was unable to make it to church yesterday, but when we called, he hadn't smoked in three days, and was working hard for that goal. We have a lesson with him tomorrow, but I will be on an exchange in another ward.
Mason (the golfer) dropped us this last week though. He says he doesn't have any more questions, and keeps saying he is too busy to do anything. Luckily, he is the cousin of a family in our ward who are super active and missionary minded. I am sure that they will keep working with him, and maybe one day he will be prepared. We planted a seed.
On Friday we had our Zone conference. It was great, atleast for me. My companion didn't have a good interview with our mission president, so he wasn't very happy, but I left with a renewed desire to work hard and do my best. Hopefully I can help instil that in him.
It was good to see pictures of the reunion, and it looks like everyone had fun. I love the shirt that Jeremy was wearing. I hope everyone is doing well. Remember, the Lord loves us enough to send His Son here to suffer for each and every one of us, simply to offer us the chance to accept that sacrifice. May we all accept that sacrifice, and use the atonement to help us draw nearer to our Savior and Heavenly Father.
As always, be well, thanks for all the continued support, and I love you all!
Elder Kidd
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
06/22/09
Aloha, and happy Father's Day
Yes, happy Father's Day. Hopefully all the fathers had a wonderful day, and will get back to work and let the wife be the boss today ;-) My companion and I found a fun card at walmart last week. It had a big pin-on button that said "I'm the Boss." On the front it said, "Dad, wear this and be proud." Then inside: "Just make sure to give it back to mom tomorrow." Anyway, I hope all the fathers had a great day. We had a member of our ward wish Elder Thomson and I a happy future father's day. That was interesting...
Secondly, can I say that it is amazing how young some missionaries look? There is a new greenie in our zone that looks like he is about 15. He is from Arizona, and just made it out to Hawaii. He got stuck in the MTC for an additional week and a half because of the swine flu. Well, he is super green, super young looking, and super making me want to laugh. I feel kinda bad, but it is amazing to see this new
kid.
On a physical note, I have started running, jumping rope, lifting weights, etc. a bit more, and this morning I was down to about 195, or the weight I was when I got to Hawaii! My shoes are doing well, I am just having fun getting my body used to running again (or period...), so I have been having fun with a lot of sore muscles.
But, it has been a fun week. My companion's frustrations came to a point last Tuesday, but nobody pushed him over the edge, and he finally calmed down back to normal, so it was a better week. We have some things going really well, and having struggles with others, as usual.
Carey O'oka is continueing to do well. We moved his baptisimal date back until the 17th of July to make sure he is over his smoking problem, but he is doing really well. He played for a stake activity (a pop's concert) Saturday night, and was the best performer there. I went in with low expectations, and Carey's songs, and two numbers by two girls (one flutist and cellist) were the only surprising ones. The stake's institue choir less than pleasant, and one lady that could play the piano well shouldn't have been singing. But Carey stole the night with his fine piano ability. It was amazing.
We still haven't been able to meet with Ahia, but she did send us a text message last week, and she should have a day off soon. Hopefully we should be able to get ahold of her this week.
Right now we are trying to do a lot of work with less active and part member families in our ward. We have had a few good successes. We helped one family decide that they want to be active again, and go to the temple. It has been amazing to see some people in church. Like yesterday, a lady named Timbelyn came to church. She hasn't been in about 8 years, so that was amazing.
Apparently a couple of weeks ago we offended a less active lady. Actually, the one that we took the vodka and cigarretts from a little while ago. We weren't entirely certain how, but it seems she has gone back to her old ways. We are a little scared that she might have been doing something prior to the night we talked to her and offended her. Anyway, she is ignoring us now, even though we made brownies and keep going by... yeah...
I hope all is going well for everyone. Remember, no one has ever fallen off the path if they had atleast one hand on the iron rod. I love you all!
Elder Kidd
Yes, happy Father's Day. Hopefully all the fathers had a wonderful day, and will get back to work and let the wife be the boss today ;-) My companion and I found a fun card at walmart last week. It had a big pin-on button that said "I'm the Boss." On the front it said, "Dad, wear this and be proud." Then inside: "Just make sure to give it back to mom tomorrow." Anyway, I hope all the fathers had a great day. We had a member of our ward wish Elder Thomson and I a happy future father's day. That was interesting...
Secondly, can I say that it is amazing how young some missionaries look? There is a new greenie in our zone that looks like he is about 15. He is from Arizona, and just made it out to Hawaii. He got stuck in the MTC for an additional week and a half because of the swine flu. Well, he is super green, super young looking, and super making me want to laugh. I feel kinda bad, but it is amazing to see this new
kid.
On a physical note, I have started running, jumping rope, lifting weights, etc. a bit more, and this morning I was down to about 195, or the weight I was when I got to Hawaii! My shoes are doing well, I am just having fun getting my body used to running again (or period...), so I have been having fun with a lot of sore muscles.
But, it has been a fun week. My companion's frustrations came to a point last Tuesday, but nobody pushed him over the edge, and he finally calmed down back to normal, so it was a better week. We have some things going really well, and having struggles with others, as usual.
Carey O'oka is continueing to do well. We moved his baptisimal date back until the 17th of July to make sure he is over his smoking problem, but he is doing really well. He played for a stake activity (a pop's concert) Saturday night, and was the best performer there. I went in with low expectations, and Carey's songs, and two numbers by two girls (one flutist and cellist) were the only surprising ones. The stake's institue choir less than pleasant, and one lady that could play the piano well shouldn't have been singing. But Carey stole the night with his fine piano ability. It was amazing.
We still haven't been able to meet with Ahia, but she did send us a text message last week, and she should have a day off soon. Hopefully we should be able to get ahold of her this week.
Right now we are trying to do a lot of work with less active and part member families in our ward. We have had a few good successes. We helped one family decide that they want to be active again, and go to the temple. It has been amazing to see some people in church. Like yesterday, a lady named Timbelyn came to church. She hasn't been in about 8 years, so that was amazing.
Apparently a couple of weeks ago we offended a less active lady. Actually, the one that we took the vodka and cigarretts from a little while ago. We weren't entirely certain how, but it seems she has gone back to her old ways. We are a little scared that she might have been doing something prior to the night we talked to her and offended her. Anyway, she is ignoring us now, even though we made brownies and keep going by... yeah...
I hope all is going well for everyone. Remember, no one has ever fallen off the path if they had atleast one hand on the iron rod. I love you all!
Elder Kidd
Monday, June 15, 2009
06/15/09
Aloha!
Ahh, what an interesting week it has been. It seems when life is interesting, Heavenly Father throws in an extra ingredient to change things up just a little more. Hopefully this soup tastes alright in the end.
After our lesson with Mason on Monday, we had a fun P-day. Towards the evening, my companion and I had a funny experience. He wanted some Jamba Juice, but they were closed, so we ran by Starbucks instead. Yes, I got hot chocolate in Hawaii, but it was still good. The funny part was that right after that, we ran to the Post Office to send out a package. Well, while I am waiting (and drinking my hot chocolate), one of our bishops walks in to get his mail. Well, Elder Thomson reaches over and turns my cup so that our bishop can't see the Starbucks logo on it. I just started laughing and told him he caught me drinking my hot chocolate. What are the odds of having the bishop walk in on you while you are drinking what looks like coffee? Just like mom's fear of buying a beer to marinate meat, that the bishop would show up in line right behind her at the store. Well, knowing Bishop Coach Steve, he would have asked why she only had one...
Anyway, Tuesday we had a good appointment with Carey O'oka. We were able to teach him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and set a date for his baptism. We are going to have to move it back though, because he has to quit smoking, but he is progressing towards that goal.
Tuesday night we went to a member family for dinner, and had.... Thanksgiving Dinner! Or atleast it seemed like it. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and crannberry. It was amazing (well, the potatoes weren't as good, but it is Hawaii. We were happy about potatoes). So, it felt like November for about 45 minutes.
Wednesday night we went and watched the Testiments with a less-active family in the ward. We have been working with them for a while, and they still have their testimonies, it just seems hard to get them to church. Well, at the end of the movie, I saw Brother Mahi drying his eyes, and they were at church yesterday. They are trying to get their 8-year-old grandaughter baptized, so hopefully they will stay active afterward.
Thursday, we had potatoes again for dinner (these weren't very good either), so we were amazed that we were at 2 meals with potatoes in a week (we usually have A LOT of rice). That night my companion and I had a good talk trying to motivate each other, and I realize I may have a lot to do to help my companion. I'm trying to think of how I can help him to want to be out here for the right reason.
Friday night we had potatoes again for dinner (we were amazed!) and even more amazing was to find out that the husband just turned 80. We thought he was just over 50. He looks amazing, and has such a wonderful spirit.
So, this week had some trouble getting ahold of a lot of our investigators, because so many are extremely busy. We called Mason last night, and he is booked, but really wants to meet with us again. After our last lesson, we are super excited to meet with him too. We ran into Ahia last Monday at Safeway, and it seems like there is a filmcrew at her workplace. Hopefully we can get ahold of her soon too. Add that to a guy we found tracting on Friday, who was actually home for the appointment on Saturday (first time I went back and someone was there. It was amazing), and we have a lot of potential. We have some hard work to do, but hopefully the Lord will bless us.
As always, thank you for your continued support. Have a great week, and a great Father's Day all of you fathers! I love you all.
Elder Kidd
Ahh, what an interesting week it has been. It seems when life is interesting, Heavenly Father throws in an extra ingredient to change things up just a little more. Hopefully this soup tastes alright in the end.
After our lesson with Mason on Monday, we had a fun P-day. Towards the evening, my companion and I had a funny experience. He wanted some Jamba Juice, but they were closed, so we ran by Starbucks instead. Yes, I got hot chocolate in Hawaii, but it was still good. The funny part was that right after that, we ran to the Post Office to send out a package. Well, while I am waiting (and drinking my hot chocolate), one of our bishops walks in to get his mail. Well, Elder Thomson reaches over and turns my cup so that our bishop can't see the Starbucks logo on it. I just started laughing and told him he caught me drinking my hot chocolate. What are the odds of having the bishop walk in on you while you are drinking what looks like coffee? Just like mom's fear of buying a beer to marinate meat, that the bishop would show up in line right behind her at the store. Well, knowing Bishop Coach Steve, he would have asked why she only had one...
Anyway, Tuesday we had a good appointment with Carey O'oka. We were able to teach him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and set a date for his baptism. We are going to have to move it back though, because he has to quit smoking, but he is progressing towards that goal.
Tuesday night we went to a member family for dinner, and had.... Thanksgiving Dinner! Or atleast it seemed like it. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and crannberry. It was amazing (well, the potatoes weren't as good, but it is Hawaii. We were happy about potatoes). So, it felt like November for about 45 minutes.
Wednesday night we went and watched the Testiments with a less-active family in the ward. We have been working with them for a while, and they still have their testimonies, it just seems hard to get them to church. Well, at the end of the movie, I saw Brother Mahi drying his eyes, and they were at church yesterday. They are trying to get their 8-year-old grandaughter baptized, so hopefully they will stay active afterward.
Thursday, we had potatoes again for dinner (these weren't very good either), so we were amazed that we were at 2 meals with potatoes in a week (we usually have A LOT of rice). That night my companion and I had a good talk trying to motivate each other, and I realize I may have a lot to do to help my companion. I'm trying to think of how I can help him to want to be out here for the right reason.
Friday night we had potatoes again for dinner (we were amazed!) and even more amazing was to find out that the husband just turned 80. We thought he was just over 50. He looks amazing, and has such a wonderful spirit.
So, this week had some trouble getting ahold of a lot of our investigators, because so many are extremely busy. We called Mason last night, and he is booked, but really wants to meet with us again. After our last lesson, we are super excited to meet with him too. We ran into Ahia last Monday at Safeway, and it seems like there is a filmcrew at her workplace. Hopefully we can get ahold of her soon too. Add that to a guy we found tracting on Friday, who was actually home for the appointment on Saturday (first time I went back and someone was there. It was amazing), and we have a lot of potential. We have some hard work to do, but hopefully the Lord will bless us.
As always, thank you for your continued support. Have a great week, and a great Father's Day all of you fathers! I love you all.
Elder Kidd
MTC / Oahu
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Unfortunately I don't have dates for these but here are some of my pictures.
This is when I was first at the MTC and first got to Hawaii.
Me and My first companion with a member at their baptism (top left)
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