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
Friday, October 30, 2009
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
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