02/23/09

Aloha
It sounds like it has been an interesting week for everyone that I have received emails from (meaning mom, dad, and heather). I hope everyone else is doing ok. Sure would be nice to know... ; )
So, the work on Kauai continues with some very interesting turns. Tylor had a baptism date, but with sickness and his mom flying to Colombia for a month, he was unable to make it to all the sacrament meetings he needed to. We are waiting to reset his date now until we know when his mom is going to be home because he wants her to be there. Since it was a family matter, and the church seems to be so big into families (I still don't understand why ;-) ) we figured that would be alright.
Jack continues to change his life a lot, and seems much more calm and focused things he needs to do in this life. He was unable to make it to church yesterday because once again he was working with Koa wood (for those that don't know, and just incase I didn't mention it last week, Koa wood is the most expensive wood in the world. His small little trailer load he estimated at about $10-15K) He did convince two of Tylor's friends to go to church with Tylor though. I think more and more he is starting to realize the church is true. He made the comment a couple nights ago about becoming a missionary himself around here.
Our biggest issue right now continues to be Sandy. We had a lesson this last week, and she snapped at us. Apparently she won't come to our ward if Jack is going to be there, and doesn't want us (meaning my comp and I) to teach her since we have spent so much time with Jack. So, she didn't come to church on Sunday, she still appears to be living in Jack's house (some nights, not all), and she is rude to everyone there (including us). So, we have given her to the other elders from the other ward that meets in our building, and wished them good luck. All this thrown in with the fact that she had been telling us that she was living the law of chastity, but we found out she hadn't, and we are not too terribly disappointed to see her being helped by other elders. It probably shouldn't be like this, but my companion and I are at our wits end, and are tired of trying to deal with her drama. Hopefully a clean slate with new elders will help her.
Brenda we are working delacatlely with right now. She doesn't seem too interested in having the lessons right now, but she continues to come to FHE and church (occasionally), so we are just going to give her scriptures to read in FHE. Hopefully she will come to the knowledge the church is true on her own since she doesn't seem to want us to help her. But we have high hopes!
As for the grandchildren we are teaching, we weren't able to teach them last week because two switch off weeks with their parents (parents are divorced), so we are going to meet with them this Tuesday and Thursday, and set a date that they can be baptized. I actually came up with an interesting way to teach the Plan of Salvation to them. I bought a Candyland game, and am changing the names of the characters to events in the Plan of Salvation. Lord Licorice has is Satan, and his licorice sticks are sin. I thought it was clever.
My companion and I continue to get along, but I am learning a little bit of patience. He is a wonderful son of God, but has some really interesting quirks about him. It is also really interesting to have to explain different things to him. He lived a very sheltered life at home, and it has kept him a little immature, but he is a wonderful elder all the same, and I love him. We are able to do good work, and I hope I am teaching him well. He does seem to be improving, so I will take that as a good sign.
One last cool thing that happened this week. We were over at Jack's house. He and I were sitting next to each other on the love seat. He told me, "You know, bra, if I don't make it to your ultimate goal of being baptized before you leave, don't feel bad. You have changed me so much, and I thank you for that." I think he is moving towards baptism though, and I really hope that i will be staying here for a while longer.
The last two sacrament meetings have had talks about strengthening marriages. Though I am not to that point yet, it was nice to learn things about love, and especially God's love. When we truely understand His love for us, it doesn't matter what happens to us in this life. We learn the true purpose, and we take everything in stride, trusting in Him. When we trust in Him, He will never let us fail. I love you all, thank you for your support, and remember that your Lord loves you.
Elder Kidd