Aloha!
Alright, so after a week of anticipation (or maybe not so much) you can learn where I am now. I have been moved to Waianae, which is on the West Shore of O'ahu, and is to Hawaii what West Valley is to Salt Lake. So, I feel right at home....? Actually, I do. It is great out here. There is definately a different attitude about the people here, but it is very simialar to Waimanalo's attitude. It is funny, when I was in Waimanalo, I ran into a cop who told me that he would always tell the punk white kids he picked up about the 'W's'. The 'W's' are Waipahu, Waimanalo, and Waianae. Well, now I have served in all three, so we will see how it goes.
Things are going really well in this ward so far. Well, more so before I got here. Elder Bagley (if you remember him) was here before I got here, and they had six baptisms on Christmas. We think he left for Maui, and I am with Elder Lauritzen (who I met on Big Island. He has been out about 8 months). They also had two more shortly before that. So, this ward is on fire right now. The problem we have now is finding more people to teach, but I don't think we are hurting too much. Our ward has 17 ward missionaries, and a few of our recent converts are likely to be added soon.
So, Christmas here was a day for families. Two families in a low-income housing section (Called Sunflower) got baptized. Well, them and a few others. Dee Kealoha got baptized back in November, and started working on her husband (Jesse) and her two good friends (Kia and Noah) and their kids. Also, Dee and Kia I believe are two of the most influential people in Sunflower. The funniest part is that Sunflower used to be the worst part of town, and now it is one of the best. Everyone knows us there, and loves us (except one guy who visits, but those that live there take care of us). The goal of Dee is that everyone in there will soon be members. So, we are working on the rest of Noah and Kia's daughters (one we committed this last week, and two more we should start teaching soon). So, all is going well there.
We have a couple others we are working with, but definatley we will be doing everything we can to find new investigators here in the near future. I believe Dee has added me on Facebook already, so she will probably post things on there every once in a while.
I am still a normal missionary right now, which may be nice while I get used to things here. I am starting to realize that this may be my last area on my mission, which would be awesome. I hope either here, or back on Kauai. Either one.
It was sad to say goodbye to those in Mililani, but I am sure they will do well. The Taufa'asaus are doing well, Dillon got baptized, and I'll let you know when Janet gets baptized for sure.
We live in the basement of the Stake Patriarch, so we have access to a lot of information. We also have a treadmill, so I should be able to run every morning, and if I am here for a while, I should be able to get into decent shape, so I am excited about that.
So our New Year's Eve was crazy. I don't think I can truly explain. Everyone needs to get onto YouTube and look up Hawaii new years fireworks. I'm pretty sure from where we were, we saw several MILLIONS of dollars in fireworks. And we only saw a small part of the island. It is like a warzone. But, we had fun on New Years day playing games, and such. One cool detail is that Elder Trujillo, who I have served around 3 times before, is in the zone as well, so he and I will get to spend a bit of time together. He goes home in March, so I should see him until he 'dies'.
So, all is going well here. Miracles have happened, and miracles continue to happen. Never give up hope on anyone, anyplace, or anything, for you never know when someone will be able to say that right thing. With Sunflower, Dee had been taking the lessons for about a year, then Elder Bagley mentioned Eternal marriage. Well, 9 or so baptisms later, the entire town views Sunflower as a different place. What difference can we make in the lives of many by being in tune with spirit, and never giving up hope?
I love you all. As always, thanks for the continued support, and always remember to smile!
Elder Kidd
No comments:
Post a Comment