02/02/09

Alohas and happy birthdays
Well, happy birthday to everyone who has had a birthday that I didn't tell happy birthday (which means everyone in the last little bit). I hope you all had an enjoyable day, and know that I was in Hawaii celebrating your birthday... : )
So, life has changed quite a bit in the Kapaa 1st ward in only one week. Slightly contrary to your comment dad(I have been getting your emails, sorry I didn't mention that), I wasn't really getting along with Elder Higley at the end of my last transfer, so this new companion was actually exciting. His name is Elder Bagley. He is a wonderful kid, has a heart of gold, is more of a nerd than I am, and I love him. We are getting along really well, are working in unity, and are having quite a bit of success. He is really into computers (he built them for a while) and loves everyone. He is a bit awkward, but so am I. There really needs to be a spell checker on this program.
So, as for the success... Jack and Sandy both love Elder Bagley. They think he is wonderful. Sandy continues to progress, and really wants to be baptised. She might be able to move out of the house in about 2 weeks, so hopefully we will be baptising her in 5. We had a good lesson, and things seem to be going really well for her.
Jack continues to come along, and I think we finally got it through his head that he needs to pray and ask about the Book of Mormon. It seems so simple doesn't it? But we spent a bit of time discussing that last night, which led to the biggest miracle of the week...
We had started talking to Tylor, Jack's son when we went over. We had gone over a couple of times, and Tylor was the only one at home, so we would teach him. Well, we read the a couple chapters from the Book of Mormon with him, left him a couple to read, and committed him to pray. Well, last night while we were telling Jack he needs to pray, Jack turned to Tylor and asked him: "Have you read?"
"Yes"
"And you prayed about it."
"Yes"
"Did you get an answer?"
"Yeah"
"What, you gonna get baptised?"
"Yeah, what date?"
............
So, Tylor is going to be baptised on the 20th of February. It truely was a miracle. Jack still isn't sure yet, but I am sure that Tylor being baptised will definatley be something to get jack rolling in the right direction. The Lord works in His own way, and in His own time. It was so much more special for me because I have been here the whole 12 weeks we have been working with them, and to see a sincere desire shows that our work has not been in vain. Once again, it shows the power of the Book of Mormon as well.
So, things are moving well in that house now. We also have had some success trying to find people on our own. We have found some good potential investigators, but yesterday really was the all around miracle day. Aside from Tylor's story, and that he and Jack came to church, we had some good tracting experiences. We found one less-active family that used to be super-missionary minded that had a bad ward and stopped coming to church. Though they didn't come yesterday, I have a lot of hope and we are eating dinner with them on Wednesday.
We also found a family that seems really interested yesterday. The only problem is that they all speak Thai, and only about 3 speak english. They really seem interested in eternal families though, so we are finding some Thai Books of Mormon for them. We can only teach them about once a week because they are so busy though, so it may take some time.
As for other stuff, I love my water-pick for one. I don't think I will ever be able to make myself floss again. Also, I finished the book Jesus the Christ this morning, and it is really good for anyone who wants to study about the savior's life.
One really cool thing with this last transfer is that Elder Trujillo (I lived in the same pad as him for my first 8 weeks. He and I kept each other from going insane) is now on Kauai, so we are going to have way too much fun together. He is awesome, and we get along so well.
I hope all is going well on the home front. As always, remember the Lord, and at this time of economic trials, remember tithing. The Lord will never let us fail if we are doing all that He has asked of us. Tithing may seem hard when money is in short supply, but the Lord opens the windows of heaven and pours out blessings. Don't be afraid to do what He has asked. I love you all, and thanks for your support and love!
Elder Kidd