04/13/09

Try three

You have those times when you hit send and you lose everything... yeah... so, maybe you got my other message. If so, hurray! If not, here is the second try (third this time. Thank you copy and paste).

So, it was interesting this last week when my companion got a package from home and we found a little Noah action figure inside. We were trying to figure out if his mom sent it to him because we are in Hilo. I'm pretty sure that it has rained every day except the first day I was here. But, I like the rain, so it is ok. Luckily it doesn't flood. I've heard that the soil in Hawaii is super absorbant. That, along with being right by the ocean probably help.

So, the big news of the week is... that we have a baptism tomorrow! A 9-year old girl in our ward is getting baptized tomorrow night. She is super excited. Her family is from Chuuk, so it has been a fun experience getting her ready. We ended up having to have her family teach her a few things, which I hope was a good reminder for them.

The other fun story happened Saturday night. We got a call from a member in one of our wards that we are helping come back to activity. She has trouble with smoking, but is trying to change her life. well, we got a call, and she was saying that she had messed up, that she had been drinking, and she was driving home. we convinced her to pull over until we could get there and follow her home. When we got to her house, we were able to have a good discussion with her, and used the anology of easter to convince her to make it a new start. We got her to pour out the rest of the bottle of vodka, give up her cigarretts, and then we stole her car keys as well (which we dropped off early the next morning). We are going over again tonight to see how she is doing. She looked like she was doing well in church yesterday, but we will see. We got picutures with our trophies as well (before we destroyed them).

Our biggest struggle continues to be getting members involved. We are going to try to start implimenting some new ideas and see how they work. Hopefully it can start to inspire the members, or atleast drag them out of their comfort zones.

I hope everyone had a good easter, and mostly that they remembered the true meaning. Remember Christ. But also think of part of the story. Mary was by the tomb that morning, her heart broken, and the world crashing down. The Master had been unjustly killed and now His body robbed and possbibly desecrated. At this moment of darkness in her life, the Savior was able to call her name and lift her from that darkness. In our own lives we may have times that it seems as if the world is crashing down upon us. At those times, if we endure and never lose the faith, Christ can call us as well, and lift us up. He is there, and He knows all of our pains, afflictions, and temptations so that He can succor us.

I hope everyone is doing well. Thank you all for your support, and I love you all!

Elder Kidd