Elder John Cameron Kidd

I'm Back

2010-08-01T07:48:00.001-07:00

What I Learned On My Mission

2010-07-26T20:47:00.001-07:00

So, as the end is just about here, I have had a lot of time (or maybe it just has been bombarding me) to reflect on the last two years. One person asked me some of the things that I have learned, so I decided I would take a moment and share some of the things that I have learned.

I have learned that in Hawaii, things get soggy very quickly. You shouldn't plan on having your towel ever be dry, except when it comes right out of the dryer. But also that love can and should be a leading motivator in all that we do. If we truly love everyone around us and see them as a brother or sister, then we and they will be much happier. Our service will be greater, and there will be less frustration and anger.

I have learned about missionaries that they are often immature, annoying, and arrogant. Yet, they are the only access to atoning grace that the world has. Without missionaries, no converts can be baptized. Also, beneath all the 19-21 year oldness, they are kind at heart and have a desire to serve. Of course they have flaws and struggles, but who doesn't. A mission will truly turn them into the men (or women) that they can be.

I have learned about myself more of who I am, and what I truly want in life. A lot of my desires have changed, and my attitude as well. I feel no longer that I have to prove myself to the world and to those around me, but that I can and should truly be me. I have learned that in some circumstances I have sacrificed much, and perhaps too much, to prove that I was something I wasn't. I hope I don't startle too many people when I get home, but I believe I have finally learned who I am, what I am capable of, more of what I want and need, and what makes me happy.

But above all, I have learned of our Savior and His gospel.

I have truly learned that Joseph Smith was a prophet. That the church of Christ was lost from the earth for almost 2000 years, but that the Lord called an unlearned 14 year-old boy to restore everything back. I have learned what eternity can mean to me and others. I have learned that the gospel contains all the answers that we are looking for.

The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and can answer the questions of the soul. There is no way that a man could have written that book.

I have learned that we are led and guided by a prophet today. He is able to receive revelation to lead us and guide us in our search for peace and happiness here, and in the life to come.

But most important, I have learned of Christ. Our Savior came to this earth, lived a perfect life. Not that everything went perfect for him, but that he never, ever sinned. He was spotless forever. He faced the hardest trials, persecutions, and struggles, yet he did more than any of us ever could. He willingly volunteered Himself and sacrificed Himself for all mankind, suffering for all of our sins. We cannot comprehend how this is possible, or even a fraction of what it felt like, yet we have faith and can feel the relief of forgiveness. He also felt all of our pains, so that He knows exactly what we are going through. He is always there, ready to reach out and give us the hand that we need, to lift us out of the hard times. If we will turn to Him, He will help bear our burdens. He cannot take them all away, for that would deny us the opportunity to learn and grow, but He can make them light, so that we can stand to continue forward. Without the Atonement, no one could ever return. Christ could have Himself without suffering, but instead He suffered for us. I love Him so much, and will forever be grateful for all that He did for me.

I thank all that have supported me during these two years. They have truly been the hardest two years of my life, but also the best. May we all continue to stay strong in the Lord, and receieve all of the blessings that He has in store for us.

Love

Elder John Cameron Kidd

07/26/10

2010-07-26T20:44:00.001-07:00

Aloha Oe

This won't be my final, final email, but it will be the second to the last. This is simply an account of our last week... as far as I can remember....

So, unfortunately no miracles happened, and we will not be having a baptism Tomorrow, but things are ok. I get this strange feeling when we come back to visit that I will have to pack white clothes. Derek is doing alright, but still got a ways to go, and Kelsea couldn't get her grandparents to come to our activity. But, I know that I did the very best that I could for them, and I think I will still be able to continue to help them.

A lot of this week was directed at preparing for our activity on Saturday, which went very well. It was great to be able to set up a spiritual room, and everyone that saw it loved it. I think Elder Pontanares might have to do it again in the not-so-distant future. There was a good spiritual message at the end, but I don't want to spoil what might be a future activity for the younger generation.

Yesterday seems to be the day with the most events (that or it wasn't so long ago, so I can remember it). Church was our ward conference, which is handled a bit differently in Hawaii. Sacrament is an hour and a half long, and then everyone splits for the last class after that. Also, most of the high council and a few bishops come as well. So, we had a lot of people there. I talked to the Stake President a little before sacrament, and he asked the bishop to ask me to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting. Then, after sacrament, the ward sang "Aloha Oe" to me, and I was given a lot of lei's. It was an awesome experience, and I realized that I have made an impression on this ward, and am so grateful that the Lord allowed me to serve here.

After Sacrament I had to run into relief society because I had been asked to sing "Called to Serve" to begin their lesson that they were having. I realized after I sang that I didn't ever sing for this ward, so they were all rather surprised. The President and First councilor were both in tears (and we live with the president, whose name is Gloria and is excited to meet you mom). Then we went to Priesthood and then on home.

After studying for a while, we had to run my signing journal to a member family because I had forgotten to give it to them at church. We were on our way to dinner, so we had to make it fast. We pulled up and I saw one of the daughters outside opening the gate. I was a little surprised because they always keep the gate closed, but I didn't think too much of it. I motioned to her to come to the car to grab the journal, but she told me that her sister had just fallen and dislocated her knee. So, we immediately pulled in, and ran inside to give her a blessing. Turns out she had just dislocated her kneecap (sound familiar anybody?). So, we gave her a blessing, and tried to help get her ready for the ambulance, and provide some comfort for the family. After everything got settled and she was on her way to the local clinic, I took a moment to thank the Lord for allowing me to be a servant in His hand, and realized that everything happens for a reason.

So, then we went to dinner and lesson, and headed home. That night, our landlord and lady gave me a towel set: navy blue with my name and "Go Aggies" embroidered on it. So, I am excited to be able to use that.

Last night I was allowed to make some phone calls to people I knew in previous areas, and was able to talk to Jack from Kauai. He is doing well, still isn't baptized, but his life is going much better. He and I had a good talk, and it was nice to be able to talk to him again. His son is on O'ahu, so I am trying to get in touch with him to see if he can come to the airport on thursday night.

Today is all about packing though, and getting ready. We have a good day planned tomorrow, and things I think will go well. It has been a blast, and I will see you all soon. I love you all!

Elder Kidd

07/19/10

2010-07-22T10:46:00.001-07:00

Aloha

The beginning of the end... I know this is going to be one of the hardest weeks, but I am excited for it. I'm going to make it my best.

Things this last week were interesting, but good. I feel more and more that I am becoming separated from the ward as Elder Pontanares takes over, and everyone continues to remind me of how little time I have left. In the words of our second councilor: "I'm so short I can play handball on the curb." So, they seem to be excited for me, but driving me nuts at the same time.

We were able to meet our new mission president on Thursday. IT was a good meeting. He and his wife are two amazing people, and I know things will go well for them during their service. His question to me was what could he do to help us have a baptism before I go home, and all I could think of was pray for a miracle. If a miracle happens, Kelsea's grandpa will come to an activity this Saturday, see we are ok people, and let her get baptized. Derek doesn't look like it will happen before I go home.

Elder Pontanares continues to do very well with the Filipinos in our area. He was able to commit one for baptism on August 7th. She loves the gospel and accepts everything we teach. We also were able to begin teaching another that will probably get baptized.

I really am afraid that most everything is disappearing in a blur. We had a good lesson with Don and Shirley, and Don came to church and liked it. But the funny story....

We ran into a less active member named Auntie Lelani while tracting one day, and she wanted us to come back to visit, so we came the next day. Well, when we showed up, she was outside at a table. I thought she could see us, but I guess not, so we started shouting to her... for about five minutes. She never heard us. Finally, someone in the house saw us and told her we were there, so she came out and let us in. She insisted on making us lunch, so she made us some bologna and cheese sandwiches. While she did that, I tried to ask her how her day was... about five times getting louder each time. I think Elder Pontanares was about to crack at this point, but he help it together. At one point, her dog (a very old and probably blind Rottweiler) began fighting with a rock on the ground, barking at it and throwing it around. Eventually I wanted to share a message, so I pulled out a Book of Mormon. She wanted to run into the house to get hers. Well, she never found it. So, we offered her one. She kept trying to turn us down, saying we wouldn't have one. We finally got her to hear that we had about 50 in our car, so she agreed. Then she talked about how nice it was that we had a car, and how they used to walk with the missionaries. Then I tried to hand the book to her to her, and she protested again, saying that we wouldn't have one. So, we repeated again that we had 50 in our car, and she was amazed. "You have a car? Wow!" So, we left smiling, and hoping that Auntie Lelani continues to be happy. Then Elder Pontanares laughed when we were far enough away.

So, all that was fun. I hope all is going well for everyone. I love you all. Next week may be a unique email. I hope you like it.

Elder Kidd

07/12/10

2010-07-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

Aloha

It is my continued prayer and hope for these last two weeks that the Lord will see fit to allow me to witness a miracle, which seems more and more will be Derek getting baptized before I leave. Right now he is trying to take steps in that direction (such as selling his $4,000 gold necklace), but every time someone brings up the idea to Ericah, she quickly responds that there is no way it will happen before I go home. Yet, we trust in miracles.

Other than that, the week has been good, but interesting. In response to Elder Pontanares' lack of communication, and his telling others that he was excited for me to leave, I decided to put him in charge of pretty much everything. So, he seems happier now, and I think at the same time he is realizing that things aren't going to be quite as easy as he thought, so things between us have eased up a little bit.

Life with our investigators continues on some good paths. Most of the great that happened this week happened on Friday while I was on an exchange in another ward, so I didn't see it. I did spend a good day with a greenie that is definitely struggling with being fully committed, so I shared some words of wisdom with him that hopefully will help him to get on, and stay on the path. I think in the end it will help. Elder Pontanares did well as well, finding two new Filipino investigators, one of which decided to come to church.

Overall, things have been moving fairly quickly this last week, and it seems that it will continue to move fast until the end. I got my itinerary this last Friday for my last couple of days, and for my flight home. I will be landing around 7:30 on the morning of the 30th, so I am excited to see all of you there. I get to go to the famous Swap Meet, PCC, and then Pearl Harbor before I come home, so I will have lots of pictures, and hopefully some souveniers (just remember, missionaries are poor)

One last good experience we had last night. We went over to the Mo'e family, or rather Mo'e aiga last night for a family lesson. Their car had broken down earlier in the day on the way to taking Bro. Moe to work, so they weren't able to make it to any of church, so they definately were excited for our visit. What was awesome was how our lesson (that we planned without knowing what was going on) on faith fit in perfectly with what they needed at that time. The spirit was strong, and you could see that they were touched. Before we left, Bro. Moe told us that we have hit him harder than any other missionaries before. Thanks be to the Lord for allowing us to be His servants.

I love you all so much. As always, thank your all that you do. See you soon!

Elder Kidd

07/06/10

2010-07-13T12:07:00.000-07:00

Aloha

Well, it seems as though the Lord has decided that I haven't learned enough on my mission so far, and is continuing to give me opportunities to learn and grow until the end. I guess nothing worthwhile ever came easy.

The struggle I am having right now is my companion. I love the kid, but apparently he has decided that he doesn't like how I do missionary work (and wants to focus more on Philipeanos), and is simply waiting until I go home. I would be ok with this, but I feel recently that the division it is creating between us is causing the work to suffer. Unfortunately every time I say anything about it, he just ignores me, or denies anything, but you can tell something is bothering him. So, we'll see how the Lord inspires me to help with this situation.

Other than that, it was a difficult,ut ok week. We had a lot of people cancel appointments with us, and other things not go so well. Derek continues to be extremely busy, but we are hoping to commit him for the 27th today so that he will get baptized before I go home. Ericah is slowely but surely getting more and more on board, especially after going to her nephew's baptism. She said she felt a desire to do better, and be better. I love those feelings.

We found out (I don't remember if I said this last week or not) that Kelsea's grandfather has told her that she isn't old enough to decide on religion, but hasn't forbidden her from having contact with the church, or her friend that is a member. So, now we pray that his heart will be softened. Sister Prather, the mother of Kelsea's member friend also pointed out that in the end Kelsea just needs the permission of her mother... so I don't know exactly what Sister Prather has planned, but it sounds as though she has some sort of idea.

We managed to get into a super-arguement this last week with a baptist outside of the house of one of our members. He came up and said he liked talking to mormons, and then began to argue with us and attack us for a while. We were with our Ward Mission leader as well, which turned out either to be a blessing or a curse, since he took over a couple of times, but may have prevented us ending the conversation earlier than we did. In the end, I learned again that I don't like people that do that, that arguing never works, and that those that argue with you don't really listen to anything you say.

So, things may not be in the most ideal setting right now, but I know there is a reason for everything that is happening. I just hope that the Lord fills me in on why soon, and gives me the strength to do what needs to be done.

I love you all. As always, thanks for all of the continued guidance and support!

Elder Kidd

06/28/10

2010-07-13T12:06:00.001-07:00

Aloha

Another week flown by, and me still wondering what is going on in some situations. Good, bad, and interesting continues to happen.

First of all, the Hurtados did make it to the waters of baptism on Saturday, but with plenty of scares along the way. On Thursday when we went over for our lesson, Marilyn (the mom) didn't come out and Ralph (the son) told us that she had said she didn't want to be baptized anymore. Not good words to a missionaries ears. Well, somehow (probably thanks to the spirit, and Marilyn's mother-in-law) she decided that she did want to get baptized, and it all went fairly smoothly. I say fairly because the joke I had made earlier about only needing three priesthood holders and the person (people) getting baptized came true. We had a teacher, but other than that it was only the ward mission leader, and the two of us missionaries. But, it all went well, and the confirmation went well as well... that's a lot of wells.

Derek is still doing well. We were able to have a good discussion with him and Ericah last Thursday about taking a leap of faith, and sacrificing to do the Lord's will. So, at the end, Ericah said she only needs the ring now (the rest of the list seems not so important) and Derek learned that he doesn't have to have cash to buy the ring, but that he can get it on credit. So, hopefully that opens up possibilities very soon. We can definitely see the adversary working on him though. One of his friend's father died on Saturday, so they were unable to come to church yesterday.

We were able to teach a couple on Wednesday that looks very promising. Don is from California, and Shirley from the Philipeans. Well, after sharing part of the lesson, we had to leave to make it to our next appointment (they ask a lot of questions), but Shirley called us the next day to tell us that she had had a dream about us coming and teaching the lessons, and she said our message was beautiful. Miracles do happen.

Sunday, we had fun in our PEC meeting with our High Priest Group Leader again. I had to, once again, explain the WARD MISSIONARY PLAN and explain that it isn't in the hands of the missionaries, but the ward. So, hopefully he got that through his head and will start to help us now.

But, all is going well. We face trails and troubles, but if we endure well, the Lord will bless us for them. I love you all, and thank you for all the support that you give to me. Aloha

Elder Kidd

06/21/10

2010-06-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

Aloha

Time is definitely starting to fly, and I find myself unable to remember all that has happened in previous weeks. We always joke that a mission is like a lifetime, and we give events nicknames related to life (being born, dying, getting old, etc). So, perhaps I have hit the "getting old" and so I will claim that my memory is subsiding. Perhaps it is simply that the Lord is blessing me to be able to focus a little more on the here and now, so everything else slips out of my brain. But anyway, lets see what I remember...

Derek has spent most of the last week being sick and busy. Saturday, one of their drivers managed to get the engine to overheat and seize. So, Derek gets to tear apart and rebuild the entire motor over again. He did this to another engine not to long ago. In fact, Elder Mathews helped rebuild the last one. Maybe I will try to help a little with this one.

Most of our time this last week was spent with the Hurtado family helping the wife and son prepare for their baptism this Saturday. I think the wife was extremely nervous because she and her husband just got married a little over a year ago, but we were able to set her at ease about that. She is converting from Inglsia ni Cristo, which is a Filipino church that I will have to explain more about when I get home. To put it simply, they don't like us, and we don't really like them.

This last week also seemed to be filled with a lot of people that wanted to argue with us. We took one of the young men out with us (Jewell) and went tracting. Well, three people on a doorstep looks a little menacing, so I stayed back around the corner. I heard Elder Pontanares and Jewell talking to some guy through his window, and from the tone of his voice, I could tell he wasn't one of the 'elect.' Then, he asked what version of the bible we use, and responded that they use the New World Translation. (Strike two), and then he let us in. Well, Elder Pontanares couldn't understand him incredibly well because he was talking fast, and Jewell didn't know how to respond, so I got to handle the situation. I've never seen an elderly gentleman make such a fool of himself, but unfortunately he wasn't listening to what he said. He tried twisting my words and didn't really listen to anything I said (I wonder if he listened to anything). Anyway, the Lord helped me stay calm, and we managed to get out of there. So, now Jewell knows the not-so-plesant side of missionary work.

But anyway, the week went pretty well. We taught a lot of lessons, and were able to help a lot of people. We also were able to meet with one of my favorite families in the ward, the Mo'es, and had a great meeting with them. They are active, but the husband has to work most Sundays and is only able to attend sacrament, so we are going to give them spiritual thoughts in the evening. But all in all, it's cool.

As always, and forever, thank you all for all that you do for me, and all you have done. I love you all!

Elder Kidd

2010-06-23T17:54:00.002-07:00

06/14/10

2010-06-23T17:54:00.001-07:00

So, I have to tell everyone about the bumper sticker I saw on the way over to the library today. "I finally got everything together, and then I forgot where I put it." Seems to be my life a lot of days anymore.

But, onto the week. It was another difficult week, but I'm starting to think that that is because my expectations are very high for the last part of my mission. We had a lot of cancelled appointments, a couple of disappointing experiences, but in the end the Kaleuati boys got baptized and confirmed, which made everything better. It was the smallest baptism I have ever been too. I was joking with a member (Sis Young) that all you need for a baptism is three priesthood holders and the person being baptized. Well, we had four priesthood holders, and not many more people there. The only ones that were there that didn't have some direct part in the program were the kids mom and sister. Elder Pontanares and I spoke. But I think I like smaller baptisms anyway. It is more special that way.

Derek and Ericah are doing well, just not engaged yet. They may have gone to the temple visitor center today. I have to call them. I'm starting to think more and more of a young teeage couple that doesn't feel quite ready for responsibility when I see them... Hopefully they will come soon though.

Kelsea is still terrified to tell her grandfather. But, as our fellowshipper and we agree, she is only 11, and doesn't want to upset her family. I have faith that if she tells him that he will not only support her, but join her in the end, but lots of prayers are going to be required.

The Hurtados are doing well. Elder Pontanares is a huge asset when it comes to Filippeanos. We should be able to start teaching atleast one new family this week that we found. I've never been let into so many houses, especially after "Tapo" is the only thing that is said. It is boggling my mind.

I also got to speak this Sunday in church. I spoke on Alma the youngers experience, and then bishop built off of my talk to continue on. I really like our bishop. He served his mission in Hawaii (started in Waianae), came back and married a girl from here, and then became bishop. He is working right now to help strengthen the ward since, as he pointed out, most of the members are either recent converts, or just coming back to church. So, we are back to the basics for them, but it is going well.

We got the phone call last night about transfers, and as was expected, Elder Pontanares and I will be staying together for my final six weeks. I found out for sure (through another missionary I go home with) that we do land on July 30 in the morning. He said his parents already had the itinerary.

So, all is well here. I hope all is well for everyone back home. Thank you all for all that you continue to do. I love you all!

Aloha

Elder Kidd

06/07/10

2010-06-07T16:07:00.001-07:00

Aloha

So, I'm actually typing this in the body of another email, and then I will transfer it over to the normal one. I am sending a few pictures to our mission president and his wife, and it is taking forever for the pictures to upload. So, here I sit on this page, and I figure, why not type out my other email? Ahh, brilliant...

This has been an interesting week. Zone conference, canceled appointments, marriage discussions, baptismal invitations, and more canceled appointments. But we keep rolling.

Derek and Ericah (I finally got both of their names due to Ericah drawing during stake conference) had a fun week. We went over on Tuesday and Thursday, and had some good conversations. But Saturday. We showed up, and Derek told us that they had been fighting. So, he wanted us to go talk to Ericah for a bit to calm her down. Well, through both conversations we had before party a and b met up, I think we figured out what was going on. Derek felt like Ericah has such high standards that he has to work so hard to meet them, and so he wants her to be grateful for what she has. Ericah thinks Derek works too much and spends too much time with his friends. So, we read the Family Proclamation with them, and told them that they needed to find a gentle balance between work, possessions, and time together. They both realized that they needed to make some sacrifices, and seemed much happier yesterday. Hopefully some big things soon.

We spent a lot of time this last week simply trying to get ahold of the Kaleuati family since two of their boys are supposed to get baptized this next Saturday. We thought we were going to have to postpone it, but yesterday we got everything situated and organized, so they are doing well.

Kelsea is struggling right now because she is still afraid to tell her Grandpa about meeting with us. But we found out that more so, she is scared when he learns that her friend Sarah is a member, that he won't let her hang with her anymore. So, we are trying to figure out now what the Lord wants us to do in this situation.

The Hurtado family is doing well. We invited the son (Ralph) and mom (Marilyn) to be baptized on June 26. They seem to be excited. So, there is a lot this family is going to be able to do. Elder Pontanares is doing wonders with them.

We also had zone conference this last Thursday. I thought it would be the last one I would have with President Peterson, but I found out that there will be one more 2 days before he goes home. So, I will not have a zone conference with the new mission president… but I will have two interviews with him. Zone conference was very good, and as usual helped lift my spirits and get me going again.

So, there are trials and struggles, but there is a lot going on as well. After the trails come the blessings. That is for sure. I love you all. Keep smiling, and thank you for all you do for me!

Elder Kidd

Some Pictures

2010-06-06T09:05:00.002-07:00

So, I thought I would send some pictures from this last week. I think I got a really good one of me, then I played around with it a little. So, the first two are that, and the last is of our baptism. I love you all.

Elder Kidd

06/01/10

2010-06-06T09:05:00.001-07:00

Aloha

First, thank you to all that wished me a happy birthday. It was a very interesting day, but I will try to get to that later.

This was again a week of struggles, but still very good. On Thursday we had 8 appointments schedualed, and only 2 went through. But I guess in the majors a .250 average isn't too bad. It gets frustrating, but fortunately we were able to reschedual most of those appointments for a later day. Also, things didn't go quite as planned for Harley and Charlene. Harley backed out of the baptism, but he still wants to in the future, he just still doesn't feel ready, so we are going to keep working with him.

But Charlene stayed through. I think this all may have been an experience she needed to help her stay strong. She was very scared this last week about getting baptized since her brother backed out. But, when it came down to it, she was able to stick it out, and felt so much better. It was awesome as well for me because I was able to baptize her. It also showed again to me that nothing worthwhile comes easily. This was one of the most meaningful baptisms on my mission so far (Derek's will be the most) because of all of the work we had to put into it. So, I baptized her on Saturday, and then Elder Pontanares confirmed her on Sunday.

Hmm, most of the week has turned into a blur, but Friday.... Friday Elder Simnitt and I were on an exchange. I had set up a lesson with a lady they refered to us named Kevie. We went in with the knowledge that she was a little handicapped (mentally and physically), and that was all. What we found was a very argumentative lady, and it took us a while to get through the restoration. She kept telling us that we wouldn't sway her mind, and asking questions to Elder Simnitt that we couldn't understand. In the end she quieted down, and was very impressed with us. She told Elder Simnitt that he was strong and always stayed on his point, but said that I never flinched at anything that she said and always stayed calm. I guess I am good at controlling my emotions in that sense. It was interesting because she never argued with me, only Elder Simnitt. Anyways, when we said we wanted to come back, she was stunned again, thinking we would run away and never return. But, I have faith that the Lord works miracles, so we'll see.

Anyway, Sunday.... May 30... my birthday. It started out normal, until we got to the church. Then, the bishop asked me if I would do one of the baby blessings for the Hurtado family (the Philppeano famliy we found). So, sacrament we ended up having 3 baby blessings and a confirmation. Yet, with all of this, Our crazy member lady still managed to bear her testimony... but it wasn't too bad... until the end. But, I don't think anyone was too upset.

Afterwards, we went to Derek's to have a lesson with him. He is doing so much missionary work, it is amazing. He wants us to teach his daughter, and while we were there got us to teach his m (who seems very interested, but we'll see if it was an act or not). I can't wait until his baptism.

After that, we ran over to Mina's house (where Harley and Charlene live) to celebrate Charlene's baptism and my birthday by eating a special dinner, called Balut. Balut is a Filippeano dish, that is a hard boiled egg.... oh wait, the egg has had a chicken (or duck) sitting on it for a couple of weeks, so there is an unhatched bird inside. It didn't taste too bad, but the idea is what was gross. A video should be showing up on Facebook soon of it.

But all in all, it was amazing. Things are looking good for the coming weeks as well. I am learning through all the opposition we are facing that if we endure through, the Lord pours out His blessings upon us, we just have to keep going. Thank you all for all the support and love and I love you all!

Elder Kidd

05/24/10

2010-05-24T15:36:00.001-07:00

Aloha and miracle May

It has been quite an exciting week. So exciting and productive that our Zone Leaders were wondering where our numbers came from. Ok... maybe politely questioning if we made them up or not. Sad that we can't seem to please them, but oh well. We did well, and we know it.

We were able to teach a lot of people this last week, but I think the miracles came more as we were able to begin teaching more people. First of all is Chris and Trisha, who were taught by missionaries almost a year ago, and elders quite stopping by. So, we went by, had a good lesson, and they are excited for all our future visits. They have struggled in the past with church attendance, and they aren't married, but we can help people get over that.

Next were the Hurtado family, a Filipino family that had gone less active a while ago, but have a son they want to have get baptized... and a non member wife. So,they are excited to have us come by, and my companion is super excited to meet with them.

Lastly the Kaleuati ohana, who provided the miracle to lift my spirits yesterday. The wife (Olive) just started coming back to church. We were supposed to stop by a couple of times to talk to them, but they were never home. We finally were able to meet with them last night, and they are excited to have us come by. Three of the kids have not been baptized, and they are excited to learn and come back to church. Olive was in tears for part of the short message we shared, and is so grateful that we are coming over. So, with that miracle, we continued on.

Most of our investigators did well this last week, but when Sunday came, Charrise, JJ, Harley, and Derek were not there, though they had said they would be. Derek showed up later, and Harley had to help his uncle, but JJ and Charrise were a disappointment. So, we will continue on.

Kelsea is the young girl we started teaching a while ago, who has member friends. She is super nervous about baptism, but wants me to baptize her. Her friend leaves next week, but gets back my last day in Waianae. So, it is looking like we will be having a baptism that last night if all goes well, which would be fine by me.

Derek and Erica are progressing. We answered a lot of questions for them this last week in our meetings, but Derek had some big news and made my week. He told us that he almost has all of the money for Erica's ring, which is awesome. But, he also told me that if something were to happen and he didn't get baptized before I left, that he would fly me back for the baptism, and I think he wants to fly me back for the sealing. The Lord truely does bless us and I guess I have been able to help Derek.

So, all is going well. Thank you all for your love and support. I won't get to write until Tuesday next week due to Memorial Day. I love you all!

Elder Kidd

04/17/10

2010-05-20T17:03:00.001-07:00

"Cough" Aloha

Yeah, so I got sick yesterday. It was a very interesting experience in church, because I literally felt like I was about to pass out and fall over. I got a short nap after church, but the night was horrible. I went to be at 9:30, but probably fell asleep at 11, and then work up at 1, tossed and turned until 2:30, prayed for a bit, tossed and turned some more, and then decided to read some old ensigns we had (after drinking a big cup of warm milk... that didn't help), and finally fell asleep again around 4:15, and woke up drenched in sweat. So, amazingly I actually feel pretty good today. Still a little sick, but I am not falling asleep at the computer like I thought I would.

But anyway, this week was an awesome week. We had a lot of cancelled appointments, but that is fairly regular. We also were able to teach a few people we hadn't taught for a while. And Elder Pontanares is doing well.

We started out Monday evening by teaching Russell, who is from the Philippines as well. So, I didn't know much of what was going on in the lesson. It seemed to go well, we are just going to have troubles getting him to church. We have another lesson tonight, and hopefully the other lady in the house will sit in as well.

Tuesday we were able to teach Brian Cullen again. We hadn't taught him for almost a month. By the end of the lesson (the gospel of Jesus Christ) he was definitely deep in thought. It sounds as though he has a bit of a history that is going to take a bit for him to change, so we will see how it goes.

We also taught Harley and Charlene, and were able to help them along the path to baptism again. We actually recommitted them to baptism on the 29th of this month (right before Charlene flies out to vegas for a couple of weeks). The problem is that we had dinner with them on Thursday, and we were supposed to eat balout, which is basically a chicken that never hatched... well, Mina, our wonderful member forgot, so she told us we needed to come over the night they get confirmed to eat it instead in celebration.... so, I'll let everyone know how that is.

Wednesday we were able to teach Linda again, who we haven't taught for a while. We were able to take a member of the ward, and she seemed to finally understand why the Book of Mormon, and the restoration are important. So, we will see how things go with her in the coming weeks.

Thursday we were able to have a good lesson with Charrise, but unfortunately she wasn't able to come to church. We actually saw a little bit of a miracle. A security company from Utah has been going around our ward for the last little bit, and most of the workers are members. So, one found out we were coming, and wondered if he could come back for our lesson. And he did a great job. Our only concern is that it seems that Charrise's daughter thought he tried to walk into the house a day later... so we will see how that all works out.

Friday we had interviews with our mission president, and I found out that it was my last interview with President Peterson. It seems my next one will be with the new president, President Dalton. I had a temple recommend interview, and we did it all in room, so, an interview while sitting on my bed. It was definately a new experience. But later that night, Cy Kaahanui (my mini missionary) came up to help us teach a lesson. He leaves in a little less than a month for his mission, so it was good to see him again, and we got to teach JJ. JJ is still struggling to get fully motivated, so hopefully something will click soon.

Saturday we had an awesome meeting with Derek and Erica, where we fully explained the law of chastity, and they listed the reasons they haven't gotten married. Most of the reasons seemed to be finacial, but we gave them some advice to find alternatives, and also explained that the Lord would bless them. So, Derek seemed super excited to start figuring it out.

Last night we had a lesson with Kelsea (the Lord blessed me with enough health to make it through the lesson). She is still a little hesitant about baptism, but we helped her realize that she has felt the spirit, and she knows what to do. Now her only concern is her family. But this morning at about 3:45, I read an article in the Ensign about a girl who got baptized at 12 without any other members of her family, so I think we will give that to her.

So, all is going well. We have a lot of potential, and are super excited about all that is happening. Elder Pontanares is learning a lot. He has a ways to go, but he is doing well. I love you all, and as always, thank you for all your support.

Elder Kidd

05/03/10

2010-05-20T17:01:00.002-07:00

Alright, so the transfer information is:......... I am staying in Waianae, and Elder Mathews is leaving. So, it is a little sad to see him leave, but at the same time I am excited for a new companion. I'm afraid Elder Mathews has burned himself out when it comes to Waianae, and is ready to go somewhere else. It has been hard to get things done when he has no faith in some of the people we are working with. He is also headed off of O'ahu, so he is really excited about that.

It has been another tough week. We had to go to Honolulu another couple of times for Elder Mathew's staph infection. Apparently it is a really bad case because we took so long to take him in. We actually went this morning for his last check-up (has to be the last since he is leaving). I realized again that I hate Honolulu. It was so hard to get back on the freeway, and there are so many people that we actually got locked in the parking lot for about 10 minutes. But, others may enjoy it.

With transfers, the chance that I will finish my mission in Waianae has greatly increased, which I am ok with. I made up a list of goals I had if I stayed, and there were about 7 names with "baptize" in front of them on that list, and a couple with "reactivate" in front of them. There is a lot that I want to do, so now is the time I get to do it. Also, I know that I won't ever have to serve in Honolulu! Hurray!

Things went ok other than that this last week. We got word yesterday at church that Harley and Charlene don't feel ready for their baptism on Saturday, so we will be pushing that back a bit. Derrick is still doing well, but Erica still doesn't want to get married. Charrise is awesome in lessons, but can't seem to make it to church. So, there are a lot of things that need to be done, but a lot of potential at the same time.

So, on Wednesday begins a new day. Now is a time to shine. I am so excited. I love you all, and will talk to those that are in Ohio on Sunday! I love you all.

Elder Kidd

04/26/10

2010-05-20T17:01:00.001-07:00

Honolulu

Yeah, I've actually spent a good amount of time in the big city this last week, and I have learned again that I do not like Honolulu, and am praying that the Lord never makes me serve there.

But why have I been there? Well, on Wednesday we went to teach a lesson at the church, and our investigator and fellowshipper both have nursing backgrounds. So, they looked at Elder Mathew's arm, and told him they were going to kidnap him and take him to the doctor because the antibiotics he had weren't working... So instead he called the office and we went down to Honolulu... and have continued to do so every day since (Today made day six) so that he can get an IV with antibiotics. It was staph, but it doesn't look like it became merca (or however you spell it). I have realized that I have spent an incredible amount of time in that doctor's office (Elder Stewart, Lauritzen, and now Mathews). He is supposed to have only one more treatment, but I can't go with him tomorrow because of our district meeting.

So, that made everything fun this last week, and really took a lot of time out of everything. We didn't get to teach very many people due to that either, but are looking forward to this next week. I'm afraid I am also looking forward to transfers next week as well because I don't feel I am able to help Elder Mathews any more, and I want to be able to do more work than I currently am able to with him.

One interesting thing happened yesterday. In our PEC meeting, we brought up the Miller family and that they need fellowship, and that they still don't have home teachers. Well, our High Priest Group Leader busts out and says that home teachers are nice, but not really important, and that the family needs to convert themselves now..................................................................................

so, after the awkward silence we continued, and I came to the realization of why it is that barely anyone in our ward does their home teaching. He called us later that night trying to tell us how to do our job as missionaries too. But we love all members, and are glad that they are trying to be involved. ;- ()

So, we'll see how things go. But that was pretty much our week. I love you all, and am continually grateful for all that you do. Remember to smile!

Elder Kidd

04/19/10

2010-05-20T17:00:00.001-07:00

loha

So, we have had a much better week this last week. Of course there were still set-backs, but such is life. We were hoping to have 8-9 investigators at sacrament meeting, and we ended up having only 4, but that still is really good. Also, all the missionaries in my district are doing well as well.

So, as for the week. We were able to begin teaching a nice guy named Russel on Monday. We are going to have a hard time getting him to come to church because he works in a care home, but we think that he will get there eventually.

Wednesday I was on an exchange with one of our Zone Leaders, which was nice. We were able to begin teaching the neice and nephew of a lady that my trainer actually baptized about 2 years ago. Anyway, we were able to commit them to be baptized on May 1st, so they are super excited. They are smart kids, and are doing well. Charlene used to go to church a lot, and really likes coming to church now. Harley, her younger brother, isn't quite as into it, but still seems to like it and enjoy it.

Unfortunately, JJ doesn't feel ready for his baptism date, so we have to postpone it for a while. He didn't come to church yesterday either, and we haven't been able to get ahold of him to see why. So, hopefully we can get that straightened out soon.

But Derrick continues to make great strides. We had a few good discussions with him this last week, and with Erica. He committed to stop smoking weed on May 3rd, which is his birthday, and then told us that he should be ready for baptism around the 24th. The only problem is getting married, which Erica doesn't seem ready or excited about yet. We talked about it for a bit one night, and I don't think she really appriciated it, but I think she's gotten over it. Both Elder Mathews and I have realized that you can't worry about offending people in a job where you are supposed to raise red flags.

We are afraid that our recent converts down at Sunflower are really struggling, atleast the Millers are. They didn't come to church yesterday, and seemed to be avoiding Jesse Kealoha (their neighbor) who tried to talk to them. It seems they got offended at church... or rather by someone at church who said something one day when they weren't there. We're pretty sure that the wife is smoking again too. But, the ward needs to be the one, and I think they are going to get in there and work on it.

But all in all it was a good week. It ended with us going to the local medical center yesterday because my companion has something on his arm that they think is Staph infection... so he isn't too thrilled about that right now. It was interesting to be sitting in a doctor's office on Sunday, and we made too many jokes about how ghetto the place was. So, I pray I never need to go there again.

But all is going well. There is so much potential here. May should be a month of many miracles and baptisms. I love you all, and mahalo nui loa!

Elder Kidd

04/12/10

2010-05-20T16:59:00.001-07:00

loha

So, have you ever noticed that life just has a way of making sure that nothing works out the way you planned or even hoped for? Well, with the gospel even that is ok. We had a lot of cancels this week, a few things that didn't go through as we were hoping, but in the end it was alright.

So, I realized yesterday once again that I hate fast Sundays. Especially in this ward. I think I have met more characters in this ward that love to bear their testimony than ever before. I wonder if there is any way to install a trap door by the podium that the bishop can trigger and send them out of the building. He could use it. I think we had 6 people that were able to bear their testimonies yesterday. Three were really good (high councilman, the patriarch, and maybe one more?) and three that we wish wouldn't have gotten up. Apparently one of those no longer beats his wife (too much information) and the other has more medical problems than she can count (I think she quit counting before she got to the mental section), but it was alright. Derrick came to church and liked it, but we made sure that he didn't listen to a lot of the testimonies.

The biggest thing that happened this week was with Derrick. We taught him 5 times. He hasn't quite committed for baptism, and it is really interesting to teach a lesson with a pot plant less than five feet away, but they have goals and are working towards them. Elder Mathews is amazing at relation to Derrick, so we should be able to get everything figured out shortly. He also decided he isn't going to move for a little while, so we should be able to baptize him in our ward.

So, a note for anyone that feeds the missionaries, a lot of us like breakfast for dinner. Crazy as it sounds (and our members have said this to us repetedly) we never really get a hot breakfast. Ceral and oatmeal gets old quickly, so pancakes and waffles are amazing. So, we had breakfast last night, and it was delicious.

Bryan is doing well, but appparently the shelter he lives at wouldn't let him leave yesterday to come to church. His brother is going to work on that for next week. We have a meeting with him tonight as well. Apparently his brother gave him a copy of the Testiments, which he watched at the shelter. While he was watching it, a lot of other people watched it as well. So, we gave him another cd to watch over there. ; )

But all is going well. There are stuggles and trials that arise, but we can always endure through them. If we remember what the Savior told Joseph Smith in Liberty jail (D&C 121 and 122), these things are for our good. We will be blessed as we endure. If the very jaws of hell gape open after us, it will still be for our good, and our Savior has gone beneith all of these things for us so that we can endure through, and He can comfort us when we stand in need of comfort. At the same time, we have covenanted to help others as well. Perhaps serving others can be our way out of our own troubles and sorrow (remember Patch Adams). The Lord loves us, and we know that better than anyone in this gospel.

I love you all, and as always, mahola and aloha mui loa

Elder Kidd

2010-05-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

04/05/10

2010-05-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

Aloha and Hau'oli Ka la i ala hou ai ka Haku

Aloha. It has definately been a good, and yet in some ways, frustrating week.

The good news is, JJ has committed to be baptized. The funniest part has been all of the ward leaders shock when we told them. But, JJ has realized that he needs the gospel in his life and is willing to do all that he needs to to be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father again. We were able to have a good lesson with him this last week, and had our stake patriarch along (who is also our landlord of sorts) and it went really well.

Also, Derrick continues to do well, but has his struggles. We were able to get him to commit to live the word of wisdom this last week, and were able to straighten out any confusion over marriage and baptism. They thought that he would have to get baptized, and then they wait a year to get married so that they could get sealed... so we explained that, no, you need to get married before you can get baptized, and then after a year you can get sealed. That made them both very happy. The problem is that he will probably be moving soon from his home because he is tired of having to deal with his parents and all of the drama they bring. So, we will see how all of this works out.

We also are doing well with a referal named Bryan. He is excited to learn. He has had some drug problems in the past, but has come clean. They only concern with him is how much the drugs affected his head while he was on them. I guess we will see in the end.

One of our concerns right now is the group that all got baptized in December. Most are doing well, but we have caught a couple smoking again, and they all got really offended over the priesthood lesson last Sunday (even though two weren't there at all....). So, we have told the bishop and are going to let him step in, but it will be interesting to see what happens.

But mostly I wanted to take some time to discuss the atonement, and conference yesterday. How often do we think about what gifts we have been given? Two of those being the Atonement of the Savior, and the other being apostles and prophets. Joseph Smith himself said that these two things are the basis for our religion, and everything else is simply an apandage.

Prophets and apostles? What are they? Men called of God to lead his children in this life. To help us know His will. To give us the direction we need to keep us on the path. As a human being's legs are not the same length, he will over time without any sort of guidance, begin to walk in a circle. Without a prophet, we each would begin to stray from the path, even if we tried as hard as we could to stay on it. It would never fully work. How grateful I am for prophets, apostles, seers, and revelators.

But most importantly, the atonement. Our Savior came to this earth as the most humble Being ever to live upon this earth. He thought nothing for Himself. He devoted his life to service. In the end, He suffered more pain than any one of us could even think of enduring. Why? So that we could return. Notice, not that we would return, but that we could. He died for us. He was perfect, and therefore never needed baptism, repentance, or anything. He should have never suffered spiritual death (separation from our Heavenly Father's spirit and comfort) yet to fulfill the atonement He did. If there was ever a time when we could try to say that our Father performed an "unjust" act, it was at the same time our Savior cried, "Father (daddy), why hast thou forsaken me?" Yet, our Savior endured on, He made it through, and because of that, we can make it through.

As I near the end of two years of service to our Lord, I again marvel and give thanks for all He has done. I have faced harder trials than I ever thought I would doing something that seems so simple. At times I have wanted to give up, to call it quits, to say "Pau Hana" (done with work), yet I know our Savior did so much for that, and through His help I can endure on. I have never regretted coming or staying, but I know the only reasons I ever did come, or I was able to stay, was because of the Saviors sacrifice for me.

I love you all, and am so continually grateful for your support and prayers. Remeber that you are loved by Him who is Love.

Elder Kidd

03/29/10

2010-03-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

loha

So, this has been another intestesting week. First, Elder Trujillo began his journey back to Colorado early this week (to answer your question mom, I'm pretty sure he'll be around when I get home). So, it has definately been different to know that he is no longer around.

Things flowed fairly well this week, with a couple of big bumps. First, on Monday night we got a call from a tongan family that needed a blessing for their son. Well, he was in Honolulu, so we couldn't go ourselves, so we called the elders down there to go give a blessing, trusting they would do so. Big mistake. Wednesday morning I got a call and got chewed out royally by a tongan lady who didn't seem to understand my saying : "We can't go to Honolulu. We called the Elders there." So, I was feeling a little frustrated by the end of that conversation. So, we spent a good amount of time making sure that elders went by today, but it still took them forever. So, I got another call that night from our Ward Mission Leader asking about it. That wasn't much fun either. Luckily, our Ward Mission Leader trusts and respects both Elder Mathews and I, so he gave us the benefit of the doubt for the most part, and has been defending us to the ward leaders. We think everything got figured out, but we are hoping the family is not still mad at us.

On Friday my companion got sick, which wasn't much fun either. So, Friday and Saturday we spent quite a bit of time at our house so that he could sleep and get feeling better. I had to have some other missionaries come with me for a little bit so that I could go teach two lessons we had schedualed. In the end, he feels better, and we still had a fantastic week.

To follow up on last weeks email about JJ, we met with him twice this week, and he actually came to church. I nearly fainted, but it was awesome to see him there. He had to leave after sacrament (apparently he has some kidney problems) but he seemed to enjoy his time there. He knows he needs to get baptized, and he has taken some steps now.

Derrick continues to do well. In fact, this last week he got his mom to sit in on a lesson with us. Also, another one of our investigators is also encouraging her family to learn about the church. We made the comment that it is sad when investigators do more missionary work than the members.

But, the Lord has a sence of humor, since shortly after we said that, one of our members invited his non-member brother to dinner, and another called to let us know her friend wants and needs to learn about the Plan of Salvation... We tried saying that non-members were doing more missionary work to see if the phone would ring again, but it didn't. I am super pleased with those two though.

So, the Lord provides a way as we sacrifice in our lives, and put Him first. I had the thought this morning of how selfish this world has become, and how much more we ourselves need to analyze our lives to make sure that we don't fall into the same trap. Let us break away from the "me,me,me" attitude. What can I do for you? What can I do for the Savior? If we ask those, we ourselves will be happier, and be able to help others as well.

I love you all so much, and as always, and so grateful for all you do for me. Keep smiling, and know the Lord loves us all.

Elder Kidd

03/22/2010

2010-03-22T16:04:00.000-07:00

Aloha

So, the big news: Transfers. So, Elder Mathews and I will be staying in Waianae for another six weeks. I am excited and worried about this at the same time. I hope that I can use this time to help him, but I am afraid of it dragging on me, so I am praying the Lord will help me with that.

Otherwise, one of our zone leaders is leaving, which is a good thing. I was/am about ready to give him a piece of my mind, but seem to have been able to hold my tongue so far, so another 2 days shouldn't be too bad.

The sad part is that my best bud out here, Elder Trujillo, is going home this week, so things are going to be quite a bit different after that.

Otherwise, our week was interesting this last bit. I don't think I have ever had so many appointments cancel in my life. On Tuesday, we were supposed to have 5 lessons, and every single one canceled. Derrick had gotten behind on some work at his ranch, so we actually went and helped him for about an hour and a half making pallets (thought i would do that). He was the only one that was actually home though. The rest simply weren't there, forgot about us, or were sick... One guy actually told us that no one lived at his house by the name of the lady that told us to come back.

Wednesday followed a fairly similar trend, but it all wokred out in the end. It really was a slow week. We were able to have a couple of really good lessons with Derrick, and he is doing well. His girlfriend is finally starting to realize that she needs to change her life too. Hopefully Derrick will be the dominoe that gets his family baptized, and Erica's family reactivated. There is a lot of work to do there. Unfortunately for Derrick and his family, the cops showed up at his house yesterday because his mom caught his dad on the phone with another woman... so we will see how all of that works out.

Saturday night we had an interesting experience. I was talking on the phone with some Elders in my district, and Elder Mathews was carving a piece of mango tree our member gave him. He asked me how deep I thought he would get cut if he slipped. I responded, "Deep enough I'd have to take you to the hospital." Well, no more that 2 minutes later I see his knife drop, hear a gasp of pain, and see him grab his hand... Well, we didn't go to the hospital (the "hospital" here is a joke and the only real hospital is about 45 minutes away) we went to an investigators house. He stitched him up, and we returned home. What a fun night.

Some interesting news: This morning we got a call from an investigator (JJ) who we dropped for a bit. He went to church with his uncle on the big island, and is wanting us to come by again. I'll let you know how that goes next week.

I love you all. Thanks again for the continued support, love, and encouragement!

Elder Kidd

03/15/2010

2010-03-16T14:46:00.001-07:00

Aloha

So, we had an amazing week this last week. Of course the highlight of that being the baptisms of Chelsey, Rachyl, and Megyn Miller. It almost because a cause of trouble, but in the end it all worked out.

The reason that it almost caused trouble was over a simple thing: food. I am amazed at how important food is for any situation out here. Noah and Kia Miller (the parents) had a pot-luck at their baptism, and wanted it for all of their children. Well, the pot-luck was because six got baptized on one day, and it was on Christmas. So, they didn't seem to understand that, and wanted to have one for every baptism, which begins to drag on the ward a little bit. We tried to encourage them not to, but they still wanted to. Our bishop didn't know about it, and we got a call when one of their neighbors told the bishop's wife that we were going to call all of the ward members and tell them that it was a pot-luck, which we never said. Then, another ward had a baptism as well, and they wanted food, so there was some miscommunication, and Noah thought he was going to have to cancel his food because of them. In the end (and after many prayers) everything went ok, no one got offeneded, and the baptism went fantastically. Then we had the confirmations yesterday as well, which went well. We stopped by early in the morning before church though, which turned out to be a good thing, because one of the daughters had bought a can of iced tea, not thinking about it, and we caught her and got her to not drink it.

Right after the confirmation on Sunday, Elder Mathews went back and sat by Derrick. He told him "You're next." to which Derrick replied "Yeah, maybe." but not disagreeing at all, so we will see how this week goes.

We also began teaching a lady named Charrise on Friday, who is very solid. She says she believes Joseph was a prophet and the book of Mormon is true, but when we got her to realize she would need to become a member, she decided she wanted to pray and come to church first, which we thought was good idea.

On Tuesday we had a fun experience. One of our members called us and wanted us to come give her daughter a blessing. So, she told us the story, and the daughter said she felt that she had done so much evil, and wanted to come to Christ but felt she couldn't. So, I wanted to share the experience of Alma the younger with her. But, the moment I pulled out the Book of Mormon, she asked if I could read from the bible. So, my companion and I were caught off-guard by that, but we were able to share the story of Paul instead, and I gave her the blessing because my companion wanted to tell her sorry and leave. But, I think it all went well in the end.

So, it has been an interesting week, and it looks like it will be another one, but this is the last of the transfer. I hope I get to spend one more transfer with Elder Mathews because I think I could help him a bit more, but we will see what happens. Oh, by the way, I am a district leader, and have been since the last transfer.

Thank you all for the continued support, love, and care. I love you all!

Elder Kidd

03/08/10

2010-03-09T05:46:00.001-08:00

Aloha

Another week, and more fun stuff! Lets see, brief summary: party, killing a pig, 7th day adventist, arrogant leaders, baptism inverview... I think that is most everything.

Alright, so, the party and killing a pig go together. Derrick had a birthday party for his one-year-old son on Saturday. To let you know, 1st birthdays out here are no small matter. They are HUGE!. Most of the time you can see anywhere from 100-300 people. I think Derrick was planning on arnd 300. So, imagine having to feed that many people. Well, a 400 lb pig can help. Elder Mathews wanted to go help kill and kalua (cooking it in the ground) it. Well, if you don't know, I don't really do well with blood or killing anything that isn't considered a bug, spider, or something like that. So, we went on a split with some other elders, one of which is from Western Samoa (he wanted to kill the pig) and the two squemish companions (me included) went off to do normal missionary work.

The two of us went out to visit a referal we got from provo. Apparently Alex is ready for baptism in Idaho, but his mom is a 7th day adventist. So, we went to see her to convince her to let him get baptized. Well, it seems he doesn't really want to get baptized, just wanted his mom to tell us that he couldn't... even though we have no connection to Alex. So we felt a little bad about that, but then she started to "lay out the law" on the 4th commandment. So, it turns out that she is only a SDA (seventh-day adventist) because they worship on Saturday. She didn't have any problem breaking the 3rd commandment while we were there. And she doesn't really follow any other SDA teachings. It was sad, but hopefully her heart will be softened by the spirit and the stuff we left, and she will realize that the Lord could change the sabbath (fyi, Mormon Doctrine quotes another book saying that after the Exodus, the children of Israel observed the sabbath on a rotating basis, i.e. Saturday one year, then Sunday, then Monday, etc.) My companion was not very happy with her, but it all worked out.

Early that day I had had some fun with our Zone Leaders during our District Leader Training Meeting (DLTM). Well, they spent a little too much time talking about other missionaries, and not really knowing the whole story. So, when they started into Elder Trujillo, I politely, but firmly gave them the rest of the story, and made sure they understood the situation. They quit discussing it after that. That meeting seems to be such a waste of time to me... oh well, I am sure I can learn from it.

Otherwise, our week was amazing. We found several new people to teach, and taught a lot of lessons. We have a few people that we are going to stop teaching because they won't keep any committements. It always seems strange, but it reminds us that the Lord requires us to do our part as well. Also, when those that bring the spirit leave, often people will notice (finally) the spirit and want it in their lives. Hopefully that happens with JJ in the next couple of weeks.

But, life in Hawaii continues on. Elder Mathews steadily improves, and I bought myself some sick board shorts today. They stretch, and are long, so I think I will use them to work out in, and then swim when I get back to USU (I will shower before I swim).

I love you all so much, and am so grateful for your continued support, encouragement, and prayers.

Elder Kidd

03/01/2010

2010-03-02T16:22:00.001-08:00

So, first of all, the Tsunami did hit, but not enough to even get above the sand line on the beaches... and only on two of the other islands, so we were ok. It was a lot of fun to gt a call at 3:30 in the morning telling us to drive to the stake center. I was actually asleep when the Tsunami was supposed to happen. We ended up driving up this huge hill to the Makakilo stake center, and then we played "Crowd Control" for the rest of the day. I never thought it could be that tiring, or maybe it was simply being outside, or maybe just trying to avoid stupid immature missionaries, but I crashed after lunch for about half an hour. In the end, everyone was safe, and ok, and we had to reschedual our 7 appointments....

The rest of the week was fairly good. In fact, on Wednesday we saw a miracle. Megyn and Rachyl have one older sister who hasn't been baptized yet. She actually got scared away by a missionary who told her she should give up her baby and she couldn't be saved because she broke the Law of Chastity... or atleast that is what she heard. Anyway, after a bit of work from us, and her parents, she came up to us on Wednesday and wondered if she could get baptized with her two sisters... Of course we told her no and that if you don't decided to get baptized right when we start teaching you, you can't be saved.... Oh wait, no, of course not. We contained our enthusiasm as we told her of course, and double checked that she was ready. We have taught her every day since (even after the tsunami). She is solid. The Lord does provide miracles.

On Thursday we had interviews with our mission president, and Elder Mathews' and my companionship was called a "match made in heaven." He asked me to continue doing what I was, and that Elder Mathews has made some great strides. It is still slightly frustrating at times, but I know with the Lord's help that he will be able to become a great missionary. He loves the ward, but doesn't have much patience. I just worry when I go on exchanges and he isn't around me that he slips back a little bit.

But things are going well. The Tsunami really threw everything around last week, and afraid was the main focus on attention. But it did bring a lot of thoughts to mind. Any type of disaster makes you really think and ponder on what is really important. In that danger, no one worries about their card, their computer, their phone (though they still grab them). We worry about our families. We worry about those we care for. A missionary asked me if I was scared, and I told him no. I was more worried about everyone at home worrying about me, and those that were in danger, and all those in Chile. It was nice to hear from a member yesterday that all of the missionaries in Chile are ok, so I know that Kyle Rosenloft is ok. But, let us learn from this, and pray the Lord doesn't have to send something else to us. Appreciate our families. Take care of them. Tell them we love them. Provide service. Break out of the selfish atmosphere we have, and do something for someone else today.

As always, thank you all for the support, care, and love. I love you all so much.

Elder Kidd

02/22/10

2010-02-24T16:18:00.001-08:00

Aloha!

Well, this morning has been an interesting morning. Elder Trujillo and I just came from a funeral of a member who worked with one of the members in our ward. It was a good service, but interesting as I had never met him. Also, I realized this morning that only at mormon funerals do you ever hear people laughing. There seemed to be a fair number of jokes, and I think everyone left with uplifted spirits. Also, I love that whenever a funeral is held at a church, they always have the Plan of Salvation. Isn't it great that we know these truths? And how much do we need to share them.

Other than that, it has been a good week. I went on two exchanges this last week, so it interesting to be away from my companion. He is a good kid, just not overly motivated. We did have a good conversation one morning where he told me that he is starting to get some of the desire back. I think the way I am working with him is helpful to him, and it keeps the work going.

We committed two girls to get baptized this last week: Megyn and Rachyl Miller. They are Mandy's sisters. After them, there is only one more sister, and then the whole family will be ready to be sealed in the temple. It is so awesome to be able to work with families and to see the blessings that the gospel brings into their lives.

Derrick continues to do well. He still has a few concerns that he has to work out (marriage and word of wisdom) but he knows he wants to get baptized, and wants to be with his family forever. We were able to teach him a few times this last week, and he is doing wonderfully. We just need to get a little more fan on the fire to get him to hurry as he needs to.

It is fun to hear of snow from everyone back home. I don't think there was any snow that actually stuck this last year in Hawaii. But I guess there is still time. I wake up a little chilly some mornings....

So, one thing I remembered this last week is that one of our recent converts is friends with the son of the guy that used to own JJ's Froststop in Hurricane (get all that?). What was fun is that he gave us $10 to go buy a snack right in the middle of a lesson we were teaching. That is a fun one to have to explain. He said his dad is over the missionaries, but he isn't a member. Too bad we only see him once every two months.

We also had a good lesson with Jonathan and his wife Ann last night. They have been taking the lessons for a while now, and at one point Jonathan wanted to be baptized, but pulled out. He committed himself last night to continue moving. Actually, he told us that he was moving slowly, and I told him that moving requires some progression. So, he acknowledged that, and is planning on comming to church regularily now. Hurray!!

Other than that, I think all is going well. Remember that if we have "aloha" or love, we may show it in different ways. It doesn't always have to be doing everything for someone, though they may expect it. As a couple members in our ward have learned, love sometimes comes in making them take responsibility. As we take responsibility for our lives, we learn, we grow, and we continue on the path to our Heavenly Father.

As always, thank you all for your continued love, support, and encouragement. I love you all.

Elder Kidd

02/16/10

2010-02-24T16:15:00.000-08:00

Aloha

So, this may be the last week that I email from this account. The church has set up a new server with google, so I should be switching soon. You can continue to send emails to this account though. They will keep it in tact so that emails still come to it and get forwarded to the other.

This has definately been an interesting week. I am not entirely sure about my companion right now. Some days it feels like we can do wonderfully, and others I wonder if I am going to survive this time with him. His name is Elder Mathews. He's from Mesa Arizona. The problem I have is that he really doesn't care anymore about rules or the mission. So.... you can see my quandry. He has been out about 10.5 months.... so a ways to go. I was about ready to call our mission president yesterday and ask what I should do about a companion that doesn't really want to work, and has no problems breaking the rules. But, we had a good conversation this morning, and are working on things. He is one that doesn't like to be forced into anything, and will rebel if someone tries to. He also told me that he has done better with me than his last few companions. So, I may be onto something to be able to help him. I have told him that I won't join in on anything, but that I can't force him, and he seems to respect that. He is willing to follow me, just not necissarily(sp?) willing to take the lead. So, I am praying the Lord will help me help him, and also give me the strength to continue on. Also, I will learn all I can to improve myself as well.

But other than that.... last week was pretty good. We began teaching the sisters of the girl we baptized the week before. Megyn and Rachyl (yes, I spelled those right) are 14 and 9. They are the last two daughters of Noah and Kia to be taught. One other daughter was taught but stopped, but hopefully we can get her to start again soon. They are doing well.

Derrick is also doing well. We just had a lesson/lunch with him. He has some pretty big concerns, but is willing to change. He wants to give up his WoW concerns, and get married. He wants to Holy Ghost. Now we just have to set goals to do it soon.

JJ still hasn't come to church. We have some ideas to help him, but he knows he needs to. He has said that a lot of times it takes a lot to get him moving on things. But, like a freight train, I would imagine once he starts it will be hard to get him to stop.

Yesterday was a fun day. We woke up early and went on a very, very long hike. I will try to send pictures next week. We started at about 7 and got back around 1. It was awesome, but very tiring, and I am now sunburnt. But, that is what always seems to happen to me.

Some other news, Elder Simnitt (if you remember him from a few months ago) is in my district, and I am actually going on an exchange with him on Friday. It is going to be interesting to go on exchanges with a former companion again (I did it before with Elder Aldridge).

Also, we had district meeting this morning, and I want to share some things from that. Our bishop actually gave me the inspiration. In Ether 1, we read about the Brother of Jared, and Jared (ever notice Jared kinda bosses his brother around? :-) and the tower of Babel. When the people were doing this wickedness, the first thing the Lord did was to confound the language. How important was communication to them, and to us today? The Brother of Jared prayed for help to overcome that. We need to pray to the Lord for help with communicating, and do all we can to improve communication.

Well, I think that is all. Happy Birthday to all that have had a birthday. Keep smiling, keep strong, thanks for all you do, and I love you all.

Elder Kidd

02/08/10

2010-02-08T15:32:00.001-08:00

loha, and G'day mate

So, I think Ben will be most excited about this. My companion, Elder Ka'ahanui and I were able to come down to his house yesterday so that he could open his mission call. And he is going to....... Australia, Adalaide mission! So, he is super excited about that. The only problem is that I have to get him to focus on this work for one more day. I don't think it will be too hard, but he is definately looking forward to going home on Wednesday.

As for the rest of our week. This seemed to be the week of canceled appointments. I think by the end of the week we had somewhere near 10 of our appointments cancel. So, that always makes things a little more difficult, but you endure through and do the best that you can.

JJ still seems to be struggling a lot with commitment. He "guarenteed" (sp?) us that he would be in church on Sunday... and he wasn't. One of our bishop's councilors knows him, and said that he just doesn't feel ready to make the commitment. So, hopefully one or two more bold lessons will help him with the commitment. Otherwise, some other missionaries may have to help him.

On Friday we had a wonderful baptism for Mandy. Everything seemed to go well, and we had a lot of people there. I forgot to grab my camera, or else I would include pictures. When I do, I promise that Mandy is a girl (though she doesn't look it: short hair and boy clothes). Her parents are going to work on that aspect thought. Then yesterday I was able to confirm her in sacrament meeting, which was a great blessing.

Saturday we had an open house at our chapel, which was awesome. It was supposed to be for the members to bring their friends to to introduce them to the gospel. Well, not many did that. But, most of the people that came were from Waianae ward, and most were either recent converts, or less-actives that are coming back to the church. Also, our bishop came and loved it, and told us we need to do it again, and next time he will bring people. Then, 7 of the 8 people that bore their testimonies yesterday had come to the openhouse, and said that it was a wonderful experience. I think next time we will have a lot more support.

I also got some fantastic news as I logged onto the computer to send this home. If everyone remembers the Taufa'asau's from Mililani that I wrote about around 6-10 weeks ago.... Mandy (the wife) and Jensen (the older son) got baptized this last Saturday. They emailed me and invited me to the baptism. Unfortunately I didn't find the email until today.... but I am still super excited that they got baptized.

Also, I got a phone call from President Peterson this morning, and I will be a district leader again next transfer. So, I get to serve more missionaries again. I am excited to be able to do these things once more.

Yesterday we gave a good lesson to the young men in our ward, and I wanted to share a little from it. We talked a little bit about the things they liked to do (all talked about the super bowl). Then, we told them about how they couldn't do any of that on their missions, and asked why would anyone want to serve? Then we went on about sacrifice, having a testimony, etc. But, for us, how many things in our lives does the Lord ask us to give up? What things do we have to sacrifice? Why do we do it? I think there may be a lot of answers, but doesn't it come down to a couple basic things: we love the Lord, and want to follow Him; we love the Savior for all that He has done, and want to be worthy of His sacrifice for us; we love our families and want to be with them forever. What wouldn't we give up for that?

I love you all so much. Thank you continually for the support and love that you give to me.

Elder Kidd

02/01/10

2010-02-06T07:33:00.001-08:00

First of all since I have forgotten to say it the last two weeks, Happy Birthday to Dad and Jeremy (and probably to add to foot-in-mouth) and anyone else in January!

So, it seemed this last week as though the Lord wished to bless us even more since Sunday was disappointing. We found six new people to teach this last week, one of those belonging to a family. Another part of a less-active family we hope will come back through our efforts. So, there is a lot of potential.

Derrick is doing great. He loves the things we are telling him, and the joy it is bringing into his life. The only problem we have is that his girlfriend used to go to another ward, and her family is there, so she still wants to go there. Hopefully when they are more comfortable they will start coming to ours. Until that day though, we will help them all that we can.

Thursday this last week was amazing. We had our zone conference, and as always it was motivational. The cool thing this time was a role play that I was able to do with Elder Trujillo. We were supposed to be listening to the spirit for guidance about how to resolve concerns (rather than going to the usual list we seem to carry in our heads). Well, I wanted to have the spirit inspire me to give a concern to him. And it did. I realized that the concern I gave was one that he had before he got baptized. So, by the end of the role play, I was in tears, and he was close. It was such an awesome experience, and a chance for him and I to grow closer together.

Sunday again turned into a little bit of a disappointing day. We found out one of our less actives that had been coming back might have fallen off the deep end again, and a few people didn't come to church that said they would. Anyway, means we have a lot of work to do this week, so we will be busy.

Elder Ka'ahanui acts like a regular missionary while he is with me, but hopefully he will be getting his call in the next day or two. Then, he goes back home next wednesday and I will get another companion. So, I will have had 14 companions. I'm half shooting to have 17 by the end of my mission.

Thank you all for the continued support, love, and care. I love you all!

Elder Kidd

01/25/10

2010-01-25T15:55:00.002-08:00

Aloha

I am constantly amazed at how slow internet can be in libraries... hopefully I will have time to download the pictures mom sent me last week and look at them this week...

But, it has definately been an interesting week. I have my new companion now. His name is (Elder) Cy Ka'ahanui. He is from just down the road in Kapolei. He should be getting his mission call in the mail this week, so hopefully we will both be able to go down for that. I never thought I would be able to say that my companion is getting his mission call... never really goes in that order, does it? : )

But, some good things, and some bad things happened this week. We spent the whole week working up towards Sunday, and were really planning on having a great attendance at sacrament meeting. In fact, we had 7 people who told us they were going to come. Well, Sunday morning we got a phone call from one: He was sick. Then we stopped by anothers house: He had just gotten back from the hospital (so he and his wife couldn't make it). Then we got another phone call: Two more were sick. And the last just didn't come even though we stopped by his house after an earlier meeting. So, Mandy came, and had her baptisimal interview, which was good. But, even with all of the bad, the Lord provided a blessing.

While we were waiting for the one investigator that didn't show, a younger guy walked into the chapel and said he was looking for another guy. Well, no one had heard of his friend, but we told him that we could help him look for his friend. Instead, he asked if he could sit in today... (really think we would say no?). So, he sat next to us during sacrament meeting. Right afterwards, we helped him look for his friend, but we couldn't find him. Well, Derrick (the guy) told us that his daughter had been blessed, that his girlfriend was a member (less active) and that she wasn't happy. So, we told him that our message brings happiness, gave him a Book of Mormon with a couple of pamphlets, and we will be going over on Tuesday. The Lord really does provide blessing when you do all you can do. You just may not always expect those specific blessings.

So, remember that the Lord loves you. Do your best, and He will always take care of you. I love you all, thanks for all you do, and remain strong.

Elder Kidd

01/19/10

2010-01-25T15:55:00.001-08:00

Aloha

So, yeah, it is a day late thanks to the wonderful holiday, and everything being closed yesterday. Also thanks to that, all the missionaries are trying to email at once, and about the only computer that I could actually get onto is the one that only gives you 15 minutes... so this may be short, and I may not respond to things (since I haven't really gotten to read anything...)

The big news for the week (and what we spent most of our time doing) is: That my companion has returned to the state of Arizona to try and figure out all of his medical issues at this time. Hopefully he will be back out soon, but he is currently undergoing quite a few tests. That pretty much took up all of Tuesday, most of Wednesday, and a good portion of Thursday and Friday...

So I have been without a companion, and have been with my district leader and his companion. The funniest part of this is that our entire district is now a companionship. The good news is that tomorrow morning I get a mini-missionary (somebody from here to be my companion for the next 3 weeks). So, I am excited about that.

Our investigators are doing well, and we hope to be able to continue to help them this next week. The big news from last week concerning investigators is a man named Bernie. We tracted into him, he asked us to come back, and he is looking for spirituality at this time. HE doesn't like the catholics, but what he has seen of our church he likes, and he wants to read the Book of Mormon. Golden!

Well, I am almost out of time, and i need to print something. So, there will be more next week. I love you all, thank you for the continued support, and remember that the Savior loves you. His love can keep you afloat through the roughest storms.

Elder Kidd

01/11/10

2010-01-25T15:53:00.000-08:00

So, I again realized this morning that I am glad that I get to come home in the summer. I walked upstairs to get a bowl for my oatmeal (Mom never ever thought she would hear me say that), and it was cold. I'm on the warm side of the island, and it is cold... So, it was probably in the mid 60's this morning. Tough life out here, eh?

So, it has been a fun week. I have found out a few things about my companion, and mostly that he has quite a few medical issues. In fact, there is a very real chance he could be headed home soon, which would be sad. He has a cat-scan, or a ct scan (or something) tomorrow to look at his pancrease. If it turns out to be serious, or require a diet, or something like that, he very well may be headed back to Arizona... so, we'll see what happens.

We spent a lot of time this last week trying to find new investigators to teach. After having 6 baptisms in one day, the teaching pool was a little low. Well, at the end of the week, we had found 3 new people, and have quite a few more possibilities for this week. One guy, named Martin, just had a brain tumor removed. He talks to a lot of missionaries, and has a little bit of a hard time talking and remembering things right now, but he told us he would read the Book of Mormon. We'll let you know how that all turns out.

I don't remember if I told everyone last week or not, but Kia Miller's (one of our recent converts, and mother of our committed) father passed away last Sunday night. So, their week has been a bit chaotic. We decided to go see them on Wednesday or Thursday up at her father's house. Well, the only problem with that is that Elder Lauritzen wasn't exactly sure where it was. So, we went to the end of the street, and started back down looking for their house. We were going very slowly, and I'm pretty sure we scared a few people. Anyway, I started going a bit faster, and decided that we needed to look up the address of the members that lived right near by, and go from there. Well, when I pulled over so we could look in the area book, who should we see standing across the street but Noah (Kia's husband). The coolest part was as we were talking to them later, and Noah tells us about his side of the story. He was feeling stressed and wanted to talk to someone, so he had headed down the street to talk to the member (the same one we were trying to look up). Well, no one answered so he started back to the other house. Just as he got there, we pulled up. And to add, after we had been there a bit, the bishop called as well. So, Noah felt the spirit so strongly, that we had been sent there when he needed us, and the bishop knew to call as well. I love being a missionary.

We also were able to have a lessons with a group of people that live in group homes (we think they are all just a little slow) last night, and were able to commit them to come to a mini-stake conference we are having next week (Elder Cook is coming). So we are excited about that. They are starting to get really interested in temple marriage, so baptism is the first step.

Things are going well. And once again we see how the Lord blesses us as we do all that He has asked. I came to the realization this last week also of how He answers prayers. A lot of times when we ask for something such as humility, we receive it slowly. And we may not realize how our prayer has been answered unless we take a moment and look back and notice how much we have changed. I guess this way is better than the Lord sending a humble train to ram us. I prefer it that way.

As always, and always continued, thank you all for the support, love and care. I love you all, and wish you the best for this upcoming week.

Elder Kidd

01/04/10

2010-01-05T14:47:00.001-08:00

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

A Few Pictures

2010-01-02T20:17:00.001-08:00

k... one is of me in front of a decorated house and palm trees, the other is of our tree with lots of presents from the ward.

One is of Julio's baptism (his wife, daughter, us, and kid who baptized him). Another is of a big group of missionaries at Zone Conference, and the last is of me and my companions in front of a mountain in a parking lot...

alright, last one of our hike today. Love you!

12/28/19

2010-01-02T07:32:00.001-08:00

Mele Kalikimaka and Hau'oli Makahiki Hou

(It's Merry Christmas and Happy New Year)

Alright, I'm going to try and fill in everything I lost last week with my email being deleted, and then add what I can from this last week. I will send a different email with pictures this week.

So, things have continued to go well with our investigators and others we are working with. Janet continues to progress and grow. We were able to commit her for baptism this last week, and are meeting with her tonight to make sure she knows everything she needs to do to prepare. She wants to be baptized, and is very eager to make all of the changes needed.

We have also been working with a less-active family(The Harrisons)... well, used to be less active that are having their kids baptized on Saturday. The oldest boy (Dillon) is ten, and his younger sister is 8. They are a little crazy, but we can truly see the change their parents have made.

I don't know how well I told the story of how we found the Taufa'asaus, so I am going to retell it so you can see the miracle. We had just stopped by an investigator's home, and were working our way to our next stop. We had two different roads we could have taken, but we backtracked our trail to the last road. While we were driving down, I saw a family in a garage. I didn't think much of it until I heard, "hey, elders!" So, we stopped, turned around, and started talking to them. We found out that Lance, the husband, got baptized around 10 years ago, just recently got back from Iraq or Afganistan, but had been less active longer than that. His wife and two sons were not members. We set up a time to come by and visit with him the next week. When we went over for that visit, our bishop came along as well. Well, we resolved Lance's concerns about coming to church though he didn't feel worthy, and committed him to come. He wanted to bring his whole family, but one son had a prior committment (a prior committment when you are only 9...). Anyway, Lance came and brought his younger son that Sunday, and has come ever since, but with his whole family. We have started reteaching him while teaching his family. He wants his boys to have the values that they will receive in primary. They also love primary. his wife also really enjoys everything as well. It has been so touching to me realizing how much the Lord led us to them.

John isn't progressing an incredible amount right now, but hopefully in the near future. He needs to get a new job so that he can come to church, but he currently is looking, so there is hope.

Christmas was amazing. It was so great to call home and talk to all those I was able to. Sorry to those that I was not able to talk to. It was a little worrisome to me because the night before I was feeling really homesick and almost didn't want to call for fear of being more homesick. Well, the opposite happened. When I got off the phone I felt great, and now I am motivated again. The only problem was that I wasn't able to get back to sleep, so I was pretty tired the next day. Oh, and also for those I mentioned hearing sirens to, it turns out it was a housefire, not a high speed chase.

The rest of the day was fun though. we were able to visit a few members and eat with them. The first dinner (second meal) we had was delicious. they had ham and ribs... and they were delicious. So, I didn't want to eat much at our last dinner... which was ok because I'm afraid it wasn't quite so good.

But, other big news, and this is kinda depressing news. I found out last night that I am being transfered. Yep, after only six weeks in these wards, I am moving onto a new location. It is really sad because it feels like everything was about to come to fruition here. But, like a member told me in my second area: "Some are planters, some are nourishers(sp?), and some are reapers. Some get to do all, some only get one, but each is essential." So, I guess I got to play nourisher in this area.

We had a good day today though. We woke up and actually had two lessons this morning. then we were able to go on a hike with a member of one of our wards and his very pregnant wife (she may give birth tonight). the hike was great, but unfortunately you can only get to it by way of the army base. I will try to include some other pictures.

So, all is going well. For this next year, and especially with New Year's resolutions, may we all set a goal to follow the Savior's example in everything that we do. And as we do that, He will bless us. I'm also going to forward an email I got from Elder Navarro (Philipe) about his thoughts on Christmas, which I add my testimony to.

I love you all. Thank you as always for your support and love!
Elder Kidd

12/21/09

2010-01-02T07:31:00.000-08:00

Mele Kalikimaka

Well... i had a long email, and I lost it, and I'm out of time. Fortunaltely a nice lady here is letting me use the computer briefly. I'm alive, I'll talk to you on Friday at 7. I love you so much.

Elder Kidd

12/14/09

2009-12-15T05:55:00.001-08:00

Aloha

Alright, so first things first (and hopefully this doesn't cause any stress). My companions and I have arranged a calling schedual for Christmas, and since I am not one to create contention, I will be making my phone call at approximately 7:00 A.M. mountain standard time. If I sound a little groggy when I call, its because i will be waking up at 4. And then one of my companions will be taking over at 5. The joy of free minutes before 7 A.M.

But this last week was crazy. By the end of the week we had taught 25 lessons, and had one baptism (Julio). Yet it still didn't seem to be enough for our DL.., but we felt it all went well.

So, first, Monday we had a chapel tour with the Kitiona family. At first it was choas, then we got to the chapel, and it continued to be choas. But, the Lord does work, and the nine year old came to me and wanted me to sing a song from the hymn book. Well, we started singing, and eventually everyone had gathered around, and we all sang. Then we bore testimony, and the spirit was very present. As soon as the time for the wards changes, they should come to church, then we can convince them that their other church is good, but ours has everything. They are a fantastic family, and we are really excited.

Tuesday morning we had a meeting with a less-active member that we stubbled upon. His name is Lance. We were just riding our bikes up his street when his two boys called out to us. So we went back. Turns out he just got back from being deployed, and hasn't been to church in five years. IN fact, we didn't have his records. Well, we went back on Tuesday with our bishop, and it went great. He knows he needs to come back, and next week his wife should come with him to sacrament meeting. He is fantastic.

Unfortunately Janet was sick all this last week, so we were unable to meet with her, but we should be able to meet with her this week, and we are hoping to commit her for baptism the day after Christmas. She has a few concerns, but mostly seems good.

Saturday we went by and saw John again, and had a really long conversation. We have another appointment this week, and are taking a member to help keep things on track. The member is scared, but excited at the same time.

Saturday we also had the baptism for Julio. It was a great experience. He had to be baptized three times, but finally it all got done. Unfortunatley Elder Beavers and I were in a meeting on Sunday and missed his confirmation though. But he and his family are doing great.

So, the work is moving forward. HOpefully the wards will be split with 2 missionaries each by new years day.

Sorry this is a bit short. we had some difficulty with the computer and the ornery library lady. I love you all. Thanks for the continued support, and talk to some of you soon! (I'll send pictures next week).

Elder Kidd

12/07/09

2009-12-15T05:54:00.000-08:00

Aloha one and all!

So, a quick story from last Monday. We had finished P-day and were headed to a FHE with a member of the high council in our ward. Well, I was leading the way. On the way down there, my bike chain slipped as I was sprinting, and I took a plunge into the bushes on the side of the sidewalk. Then, not 3 minutes later, we tried to cross the street, and a truck that was trying to turn right at a red light bumped the back part of my bike. So, I crashed and then got hit by a car. It was a couple fun minutes. The greatest part was after we crossed (the bump didn't even knock me over, so we kept going) Elder Beavers tried to cross, and the guy almost hit him too, and then yelled at him out the window. Guess it just shows how much the world tries to blame everyone else. But I am much more careful when I cross the street now.

Anyway... This was a bit of a confused week last week. We are realizing more and more that these two wards each need their own missionaries. So, we have developed a system so that we can see everyone we need to in both wards since we failed last week at that.

We had another meeting with John on Saturday, and again he made all of our heads hurt with scientific knowledge, yet he knows that it all points to God. We watched a video about temples... I'm starting to think we need to go back to the very simple basics to avoid the intelectual part of our discussions with him. But he is doing well.

I found out this morning that Trayleen is doing better, and also that Josh and Isaiah from Olomana ward got baptized last night.

We should be having a baptism this Saturday with Julio Diaz. He is in the army, and his wife got baptized while he was in Iraq. We are excited about that.

Also, Janet, another of our investigators, is really close to being baptized. She has a few questions (she has heard a lot of rumors that she knows aren't true, but she wants us to answer them) and we should be able to commit her soon as well. And today in about an hour we are doing a chapel tour for a Samoan family. The Kitiona family mostly knows the church is true, but goes to a Samoan church out on the west shore mostly for social reasons. We have faith that the spirit will touch them today, and we can begin to bring them into Christ's true church.

So, I have been thinking a lot recently about Christmas, and what the world has made it. We truely see how Satan will use everything to his advantage. A day designated to celebrate Christ's birth, and it has turned into a crazed "buy everything you can" day. Let us try to put the true meaning of Christmas back in the holidays this season. Remember the Savior, His sacrifice, His life. Let us honor that, not the mighty dollar.

I love you all, thank you for the continued support, and stay strong!

Elder Kidd

12/01/09

2009-12-15T05:51:00.000-08:00

Fw: Much For Which to Be Thankful

Oh, also, my companions names are Elder Beavers and Elder Winterton. Elder Beavers is from New York and has been out about 8 months, Elder Winterton from Georgia and about 14.5 months.

Elder Kidd

Aloha Beloved Elders & Sisters,

We are thrilled to tell you that 101 of Heavenly Father's children entered the waters of baptism in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission in the month of November. Through the tender mercies of the Lord and more miracles than we can count, we have been blessed to see Vision 100 come to pass.

We are grateful to each of you for your contributions. You have exercised your faith in wonderful ways. You have chosen to sanctify yourselves through repentance that in many cases required painful confession. You have engaged in mighty prayer and fasting and have seen those prayers answered in tangible ways. You have seen the light in the eyes of those who have made and kept commitments which led them to make sacred covenants in the waters of baptism. You have been instruments in the hands of God in helping 101 souls have a chance at salvation.

You have also come to know that with your consecrated effort and much help from the Lord, difficult, never-before-accomplished-things can be accomplished. We need to keep our sights set high for the months ahead--they can all be Vision 100 months where many of God's elect sons and daughters come into the light of the gospel.

Please think back to the scripture I read to you at zone conference. It is from 1st Nephi 17:13 "And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led." We have indeed had a light in our "wilderness." The way before us was "prepared." Many of you have done your very best to "keep the commandments." There is no doubt--we know that it is by the Lord that we have been "led."

We would ask that each of us offer a mighty prayer of Thanksgiving to the Lord for this wonderful Vison 100 month of November. We are deeply indebted to our Father in Heaven and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ for this great miracle. Then, offer another mighty prayer that each of you, every companionship, will be able to be a part of White December by helping at least one of God's children into the waters of baptism before December 27th.

We love you dearly and pray that you will feel a warm confirmation from the Lord--a confirmation that He is pleased with your consecrated service here in these islands. We, with you, look forward to a wonderful Christmas Season. We'll see you all soon at zone conferences.

Mahalo nui loa and much aloha,
President & Sister Peterson

11/30/09

2009-12-15T05:50:00.001-08:00

Aloha!

I am going to forward an email that our mission president sent out this week. I hope that you all will enjoy it. It tells a little bit about what we were able to do in November. (FYI, Vision 100 is the goal of getting 100 baptisms in a month, therefore doubling the average of 50 from before).

But we had an awesome week. It seems amazing to me that I have been here in Mililani (Mill-i-lawn-EE). Time is flying by. As we cover two separate wards, we have a lot of work to do. We found out in interviews this last week that our threesome is an accident. A mini-missionary (someone from out here that serves as a missionary for about six weeks) fell through about 12 hours before he was supposed to arrive... so it was a last minute thing. Anyway, we have a lot of work to do, and bikes as transportation to do it with (by the way, there was a bike here for me to use. it is nice. I just had to buy new disc brake pads for it, but everything else is good. does anyone know if the church has something to do with the manufacturing of Liahona bikes?)

Thanksgiving was enjoyable for us. That is the day we had our interviews and district meeting. After that we went and had dinner with an investigator family (super baptist, but we'll get to that later), and then to a less-active family with a son that is getting baptized in january. We visited a couple people, took some pictures (i am sending my memory card home in the Christmas package... so you can't see the pictures and video until then) and then went home. I also got sick this last week (a cold) but got over it fairly quickly using a lot of zinc and vitamin c.

Friday was an interesting day. We had 6 appointments schedualed, so of course only 1 went through. This was with the Fritts family, who we had dinner with on Thanksgiving. They are strong baptists, and honestly do not think we are going to make it to heaven. They believe that the book of Abraham was misinterpreted, and don't think the book of mormon is scripture, but they agreed to honestly pray about it. We had a good discussion with them (it never was a bash, so i was happy), and then we left. We all have to think, but it continues to strengthen my testimony.

Sunday was amazing. One of the wards we cover has a new bishop, and he is incredibly focused on "Rescueing the lost." He saw us riding our bikes late Wednesday night in the rain (probably how i got the cold), and then loved our progress record. He is willing to help us so much, and encouraged (well, kinda scolded) the members to do the same. So, we are now super motivated, excited, and eager to go.

We also had a lesson with a guy named John. John is a genius. I mean, really, this guy is amazing. Basically, he knows that catholocism is wrong through history, and he knows everything else. I want to just pick his brain for about 5 days straight. He is praying about the Book of Mormon, so he should get his answer soon.

On a slightly down note, I found out last night that there is still a lot of drama in my last wards over Trayleen. So much in fact that she isn't sure if she wants to get baptized. So, we see once again that the church is true, but the members aren't always. But we need to look and make sure that we are not the ones that are keeping one of God's children from returning to him. But evenmore, when someone does something to us, we can't let it affect us. Does anyone else ever notice how much more we have to "Rise Above" the influence and do what is right? Guess thats what we call the right thing.

Hopefully next week the computers at the library will be fixed so that each of us can check email at the same time. Right now there are only two working, but hopefully soon! I love you all. Thank you for your continued support, love, and laughs! Keep smiling!

Elder Kidd

11/23/09

2009-11-23T20:32:00.000-08:00

Aloha and Mahalo

Figure we might as well throw some thanks in the title for this week. As a disclaimer, this email may be a little short, and the keyboard I am using is really poorly designed, so I might ask Tiff to spell check this email before she puts it on the blog.... (done)

So, I got transferred. I am no longer in Waimanalo. I am now in Mililani. I have not one, but two companions. Yes, we are in a threesome (which is why I don't have much time to type this out.) We are also on bike, which has been a lot of fun so far, and I am sure will be quite a bit of fun in the near future... My knee is getting a lot of exercise.

My companions are great though. They are two really good elders who know what they are doing. The only problem we have is that they just combined two wards into one as well, so we are having a bit of a transition to that right now.

On Friday we had an awesome experience. Unfortunately, President Monson couldn't make it to Hawaii because his wife had an accident, but Elder Perry came and we got to shake his hand. Then on Sunday he shared a story about a family in my old ward. It was amazing.

So, I'm afraid the last week has been a bit of a blurr, so I don't remember a whole lot. I will fill in more detail's as the time goes on, but I have someone that has the computer reserved right after me, and I'm losing patience with this stupid keyboard.... arg!! Anyway, I love you all, thank you for your care, concern, and reply emails from last week. Aloha!

Elder Kidd

11/16/09

2009-11-16T16:47:00.001-08:00

Aloha and Aloha

Ok, so this is going to be a difficult and interesting email.

First of all, I need to tell a story from this last week. On Tuesday night, I went on an exchange. Well, I found out when I got picked up that we were going to pick up a couple other elders and have a night of playing some card games. I didn't think it was too bad, so I went along with it. Well, the next day a couple of us felt really bad and called our mission president. So, I will not be a district leader next transfer due to my transgression. I felt and still feel a little horrible, but it has given me the motivation to do better. I feel I have learned a lesson that I wish to share with others now. Follow the rules/commandments, but also that the atonement is real. My biggest worry is how much I have disappointed all of you.

The other news is that I am being transfered. Also, they are splitting the two wards that we covered. So, Elder Call is going to stay in Olomana, and they are bringing two new missionaries into Waimanalo. So, I don't know where I am going to be either. Things are going to be different.

But we had a pretty good week this last week. Rick is having some struggles with his mom right now. She doesn't want him to get baptized, but she is not forbidding it. We told him struggles and trials come, so he is going to pray and see what the answer is. Trayleen is doing well, we just had some trouble with the wards. She lives in one ward, but wants to go to the other. Anyway, things got worked out this last week (probably a little aggressively) and she can now go to the ward she wants to. She is happy about that, but I am sad that I won't be here for her baptism.

We are also going to be able to start working with a couple people we haven't been able to get ahold of for a while. So, things are starting to pick up down here, which seems to follow the general pattern of my mission.

On a better note, all the missionaries on Oahu this next friday (I am staying on Oahu, so that's me as well) have a special meeting. President Monson is coming to Hawaii for a regional conference, and Elder Perry as well. Well, they want to have a special meeting with the missionaries. I am super excited. It is going to be amazing. I'll let you know how it goes!

So, in the end, this has been a week of learning for me. Remember to follow the rules, even if you don't believe that it is that bad. The cool thing that happened though was on Thursday when I felt horrible thinking about what other people would think. Then the spirit gave me the impression of: "It doesn't matter what other people think, only the Lord." So, in the end, I feel bad, stupid, etc... but I know that I am on the right path, and am doing the best I can from this point out. The atonement is real, and the Lord loves us.

I love you all so much. I apologize again for disappointing you. I ask for your forgiveness. Again, I love you.

Elder Kidd

11/09/09

2009-11-16T07:21:00.001-08:00

Aloha means love

I've decided a lot of the polynesian and micronesian culters have it right. They great people with a word that also means love (the first two that come to mind are 'Aloha' and "Yokwe' (marshalleese). Anyway, here is hopefully an email full of love...

Elder Call is still proving to be a wonderful learning experience for me. I try not to take offense or get irritated at all, but it is starting to be a little bit harder than usual. I think most everyone knows that I don't really like to have to repeat myself over, and over. Well, Elder Call is helping me learn that at times I may need to ask someone to do (or not do) something over, and over again. I pray every night that the Lord will give me more patience.... He has to be laughing at me up in heaven and simply giving me opportunities to learn it...

But, our week was awesome. I have to admit that Wednesday was my favorite day. I went on another exchange with Elder Hill, and I have realized how awesome he is. I would love to be able to be his companion one day. He loves to work, but have fun at the same time. We were able to get so much done, and I felt like I could put some of the burden on him.

Wednesday we had a marvelous experience though. We had a lesson schedualed with a guy named David. We picked up a kid from the ward named Koa to come with us (he is almost finished with his papers). Well, David wasn't home, so we figured we would walk around and talk to a few people. While we were walking, I called Trayleen to keep daily contact with her. Well, I could tell she had been crying, and she said she had just come out of praying. When I asked if she wanted us to come by, she said yes, so over we went.

We talked for a little bit, and then shared a lot about the atonement. It was so cool, and having Koa there was also a blast. Then, she told us that she had canceled her trip to Washington because she knew if she went that she would lose everything that she had gained (first shock). Then, we asked if she still wanted to wait on her baptism, and she said no because she needed the Holy Ghost (second shock). Elder Hill and I looked at each other, and simply said that she was the most golden investigator either of us had ever met. I am so excited for her. The only concern we have is that all of her friends are in one ward, and she lives in another, and the bishop will not let her get baptized in the other ward.... so please pray for us to know how to handle this.

Monday night we had a good lesson with Rick... and committed him to be baptized. He knows it is true, and wants to, just concerned about his mom. When he told her, she didn't seem happy, but I don't think she will forbid it. We need to talk to him again to see how everything is right now.

So, things are going well. The members of my district are struggling, but hopefully the training tomorrow will help with that. So, trust in the Lord, He gives what we know we need (even when we hate it). He does love us, and He hates to see us sad, but knows it is for our good (isn't that awesome but depressing at the same time). Keep smiling everyone. Satan hates a righteous smile. I love you all! Thanks for supporting me!

Elder Kidd

11/02/09

2009-11-16T07:19:00.000-08:00

Aloha

I've decided that mom has this great way of saying exactly what needs to be said to make you feel guilty as heck and encourage you to do what needs to be done... Long enough sentance? Basically, I have been struggling like crazy recently with Elder Call. I am trying my best to help him, be nice, encourage him, etc. but it has been a very draining experience. Then mom tells me of a poem written by a kid in the school about beauty, and not having any friends, and of course I start to analyze and realize that I need to be Elder Call's friend... Now how to do it is the hard part...

But anway, now that I feel guilty (thanks lots mom! ; ) the rest of the week. Well, we had another week of struggles, but not without rewards. Mostly we know that this will be a great week, and Trayleen continues to work towards baptism. She met with our bishop yesterday, came out and told us she had been crying a lot, to which we shared that the church could supply the world with water for about a year just through our tears... (should we market that?) But she is doing great. We are meeting again with her tonight, and hoping to help strengthen her resolve to quit whatever actions are keeping her from baptism. We reset her date to the 5th of December.

We are going to meet with Rick tonight (he had to cancel last week). There are full-time missionaries over the singles ward, and the call seems to be that our assistants think that if they can go there, they should because it will be "better for them." Well, one of Rick's fellowshippers thinks that that idea is one of the dumbest he has ever heard. He is worried about the family and doesn't think that Rick will want them to teach him, so he may keep coming to the family ward. We will see how it plays out.

Josh and Isaiah may not be getting baptized for a while. I think Aunty Momi (the grandma) is still mad at us since she hasn't spoken to us at all. Our bishop is going to talk to her again because right now she wants to wait until next year for them to get baptized, and our bishop thinks it should be soon (we agree). I love our bishop.

Halloween is pretty lame on a mission. You can't do anything. We had a great dinner with uncle Ray though, and I patched up a huge hole in my soul... wait... sole... of my shoe... yeah, that one. Shoe goo is fantastic.

So, we are really excited about this week. I am also excited for Saturday because UH plays USU... so we will see how it goes.

A bit of a spiritual thought, and slight rant. Most missionaries either love or hate fast sunday because of the 'testimonies' that are shared. Yesterday was a prime example. We had some good, some bad, some stories, some 'What was that?'s, but in the end I think it is ok. A young couple that moved into our ward brought a friend to church, and she seemed to enjoy it all. But, the point is, a testimony is simply a declaration of belief. To say I know something is a testimony. I know the Savior lived and dies and lives again, for us. He loves us so much. He cares for us so much. He teaches us through the Holy Ghost. Joseph Smith is his prophet and revelator for these last days. And with everything we do, we say all things, and do all things in the name of Christ.

Thank you all for your continued support, love, encouragement, teaching, etc. I love you all!

Elder Kidd

Phone Call

2009-10-30T06:54:00.001-07:00

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

10/26/09

2009-10-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

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

10/21/09

2009-10-30T06:52:00.000-07:00

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

10/12/09

2009-10-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

Aloha

So, 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

2009-10-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

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

09/28/09

2009-09-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

Aloha!

Wow, it was a good week. Of course, some things could have gone better, but even with 4 lessons cancelling on us, the Lord blessed us.

On Tuesday we started out with Zone Conference which was fantastic. I sang the song "O Lord, my Redeemer" for the musical number, which went well. The only problem is that I have been asked to sing at a meeting for investigators this week. Oh well...

After zone conference, we went out and were able to teach a couple of lessons. One of those was to a young boy named Justyce Cummings. His grandma and mom are both active, but have been less-active for a long time. Elder Simnitt and one of his previous companions here taught Justyce all of the lessons, and a few more, but they would never come to church. Well, a few weeks ago, he showed up at church. Before we could go over though, someone in the family died, and that chaos insued. Well, we finally were able to go over this last week, review everything he learned, and he will be getting baptized on October 11! Hurray! Now we are going to try to use this as an opportunity for our other investigators.

On Wednesday, we spent the entire day running from one appointment to another. It was fun, but tiring. We had a good lesson with Jason Skaggs and his family. Jason Skaggs is a recently re-activated member who has a 12 year old (unbaptized) daughter, and a fiance (to be wife in about 11 hours), and he wants his family to be sealed in the temple. So, they are doing great. We are going with him to that investigator meeting this wednesday that I am singing at.

Thursday was a little bit disappointing, but good at the same time. 3 lessons canceled on us, but we had a really good one at the end of the night. The really cool thing was David though, who called in a little bit of frustration, but shared with me that he wants to continue the path, and that he feels like he can trust me and talk to me. That meant a lot to me. Apparently he feels he has the gift of discearnment, and after only a couple of minutes, he like me. So, I was especially grateful to the Lord that night.

Saturday night one of our wards had a fish fry, and man can these guys cook fish. It was amazing. I think it is funny though, I've realized that Brandon and I may have to go out to eat a lot when I get home because I really like raw fish now. I don't know if I shared the experience, but one time on Kauai with Jack, he had us over for dinner one night after he had been fishing. Well, I watched him pull a fish out of the freezer, skin it, and start slicing pieces of meat for me to eat. Oh, it was delicious. Shashimi is how I think it is spelled.

So, all in all, it was a good week. I also really enjoyed the last verse in Ether this last week: "Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God." What amazing faith and trust did Ether have in the Lord. No matter what happens in this life, it doesn't matter as long as we are saved in the Kingdom of God. By the same token though, 2 Nephi 25 tells us that we are to have joy, so we should be able to have joy with whatever happens to us, and if we are following the commandments, we will have joy and be saved in the Kingdom of God.

Thank you all as always for your support, encouragement, and love. I love you all!

Elder Kidd

09/21/09

2009-09-30T13:18:00.001-07:00

Aloha from week of struggles

So, it was interesting yesterday to see how incredibly down I was at the start of church, and how chipper (annoyingly so to Elder Call) I was by the end of the night. I realized yesterday morning how absolutely dismal our week had been, but had an incredible amount of faith by the end. This is going to be an amazing week.

On that note, I'll tell you about our week. This week was Waimanalo's 60th anniversary of the forming of the first branch. So, Sunday there was a special sacrament meeting, Monday there was a fireside, Tuesday was a fun night, Thursday was a movie night, and Saturday was the biggest Luau I have been to yet. So, it was a fun week, but missionary work seemed down.

But it wasn't that we weren't trying. I didn't count, but I would guestimate that we had about 8-10 canceled lessons through the week. Several investigators bailed, other just didn't go through. But this week has potential to be HUGE!

Tuesday night at the fun night was awesome though. We had a member bring about 30 nonmembers to the activity. They are all from Chuuke (yes, more of those people. I promise the place exists). They had a blast, and we were able to introduce them to the gospel. More activities are being planned for them, and we are excited to share more with them. Thursday night was a movie night that we couldn't participate in, but as we were getting the popcorn and hotdogs, I heard a few lines and the movie sounded intense. I think it was called "Against the Giants" or something like that. But it sounded really good and religious based, so I'm going to look it up when I get back. We were at the church waiting for a lesson (that canceled on us), so they made sure we got something to eat.

Last night was good though. We have started teaching active members of our ward so that we can get more practice, bring the spirit to them, and then get them to invite friends as well. We taught a newly wed couple in our ward that is getting sealed soon, and they really enjoyed it. We then taught one of our bishops, and he and his family loved it, and he is going to try to get a nonmember to our next lesson : )

So, in the end, the week seemed tough, but it will be good. There are adversities in life that we struggle through, but if we endure well, and ask the Lord for help, we learn so much from it that we never thought we could. Also, the Lord will help us endure the trials. These things are true.

I love you all, thanks for your continued support, and stay strong!

Elder Kidd

09/14/09

2009-09-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

Aloha with clean teeth

Yep, after putting if off for about 8 months, I finally got my teeth cleaned this morning. I found out that the only problem I had was that I had been brushing one tooth too hard, and had uncovered the root a little bit, so it's been a little sensitive. But, everything else was good. Something funny though, two of the hygentists were talking before my cleaning, while waiting for the dentist (he was going to clean my teeth). Well, they start talking, and very quickly get onto the subject of breach babies (Chelsi, I spent a bit of time thinking of you). So, they continue on for a bit, talking about how to turn them, and mention some other things I didn't quite get, and then realized that neither of them had told the dentist I was there (the dentist is a member and does work free... except I had insurance so it was all good). Fortunately it only took a couple of minutes for them to figure it out, and I have a lot of older sisters and sisters-in-law, so I have heard that type of conversation before. But my teeth are clean!

The work went well this last week. It seemed that we were so busy every single day. All but Tuesday and Saturday we spent the entire day running from appointment to appointment. Elder Call is getting a lot of practice.

On Wednesday we had a fun lesson with Loretta. We wanted to read 2 Nephi 27 with her, which talks about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. Well, she launches into a rant about how the book of mormon is stupid, those people didn't care about the restoration, and we have the gall to claim these things. Eventually our fellowshipper got out of her that she had received her "answer" and that she isn't supposed to get baptized. So, we said give us a call when you want to meet, but made sure to leave her (again) with the thought that Satan works against the truth.

Thursday night we had a lesson with Isaiah, Josh, and their mom Kim. We played the Plan of Salvation board game with them. The lesson went well, and we tried to commit them for baptism afterwards. Well, Grandma (Aunty Momi) is convinced that they do not know enough to get baptized... so frustrating. We tried to convince her (and the kids' mom) that they don't have to be gospel scholars to get baptized, but she wasn't seeming to have it. Oh well. Soon. Very soon.

Friday night we had a great lesson with a kid named Rick. He is 18, and facing struggles in his life. He has a couple good friends who are great members in our ward. Well, his concerns right now are that he feels he can't be forgiven for things he has done, and is concerned about what his family will think. Well, Friday we decided to focus more on the forgiveness part (figured that it's pretty crucial), so we had a lesson on the Atonement. We started off by watching part of the Testiments when Christ is suffering and killed. Then we went over some stories and talks by the apostles, and bore strong testimony. We had a bunch of members with us, who also bore testimony. but the best part was at the end. It is hard to get elder Call involved unless he knows a specific part and I force him to teach. But, one of our fellowshippers asked him to bear his testimony and fulfill the law of witnesses. Well, he did, and it made all of the difference, and we all noticed it. It was amazing. I was so proud.

Well, after that, we sped over to Kaneohe to exchange with our ZLs for an exchange. So, saturday (the day we didn't have anything schedualed) I had one of the ZLs with me. Our goal for the day was to find a new investigator, and the Lord blessed us. We actually taught two lessons on the spot, and got one return appointment. And the one that we don't have another appointment wants to meet with us again (but she is single, so we may let the ZLs who are over the singles branch meet with her... the irony). So it was good.

Yesterday we commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Waimanalo Ward/Branch. We had a combined sacrament meeting with both of our wards, and it was near chaos. They took a big group picture that I am going to try to get sent home so you can see. It was fun though. Then, we went and taught another lesson, and went into Honolulu for a fireside that one of our members performed in. Unfortunately all of our investigators fell through last minute (as in, after we were in Honolulu), but it was a good fireside. The group was very impressive. Actually one of the best blended and in-sync choirs I have ever heard. Unfortunately all of their "special guests" talked for a really, really, really, really long time and things got a little long. But overall it was really good.

Oh, one other cool thing. A gentleman in our ward just got back from basic training (where he has been for about 3-4 months). He has a nine year old daughter he wants to get baptized, so the lessons begin on Wednesday.

Remember, the Lord will never give us more than we can handle, as long as we are doing what is right and trusting in Him. That being said, He does give us a lot so that we learn to handle more.

I love you all! Keep smiling, stay safe, stay strong!

Elder Kidd

09/07/09

2009-09-08T15:43:00.000-07:00

Aloha

So, I think a lot of people have heard the rumor that in Hawaii, whenever someone begins to talk, they say "Aloha" and everyone responds "Aloha" back. Well, that is true. Sometimes we switch it up and say "Malo e lele" or "Talofo lava" or "Good Morning", but whatever is said, everyone responds back.

We had a good last week though. Elder Call is continuing to improve and progress. He is still scared out of his wits, but not nearly as much anymore. We actually had one of our bishops keep us behind after a meeting yesterday to talk to us (well, mostly him) and say not to be scared.

I think the coolest experience this week happened on Tuesday. Or rather started on Tuesday. We were tracting out a street fairly late at night, and were about done. Well, we looked up to a house, and it looked like there might be someone home, so we figured we would try it. So, we walked to the door, and heard the clattering of dishes and the TV. Let me just say, people don't like to be interupted during dinner and watching TV. Still, we decided to try, so we knocked:

"Who is it?"
"Missionaries."
"We'll be right there!"

The first thought that pops into my head is either: 1) a very mad person, or 2) a member. Well, the door flies open and John Thiele (pronounced Tee-Lee) from Idaho opens the door and invites us in. He was visiting his non-member step-sister because his step-mother is about to pass. So, he invited us in, we shared a message, he shared about the gospel, we left a plan of salvation pamphlet, and left with an assignment to find a member to go with him to give his step-mother a blessing. Well, we found the member, who couldn't go, so a member of our bishoprich ended up going instead. Well, Brother Thiele got up yesterday during sacrament meeting and praised us during his testimony, so now all of the members are impressed (always a good thing) and we are looking forward to going to see his step-sister again soon.

This week we also began teaching a couple of grandsons of a member in our ward, and their non-member mother decided she wants to sit in as well. They have been coming to church for a while now, so we should be able to help them get baptized very soon.

On the subject of kids getting baptized, it doesn't make sense to baptize a child who has no support from home, or has a strong enough testimony to make it happen on their own. Doing so just puts a huge burden on the ward, and may prevent them from coming to the gospel fully later in life.

So things are going very well, and we are looking forward to having a great week. I found a scripture this week that I love. In 3 Nephi 9:14, we hear the voice of Christ. At the time, all of the destruction after Christ's death had happened in the America's (tempests, earthquakes, fires, floods, etc.) and hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Then, a mist of darkness fell upon the people. This darkness was so thick that no one could start a fire, or see any type of light. It seems that Satan was showing his power and declaring his victory over the world. He had gotten the Savior's own people to kill their Messiah, and Satan was showing his power. Yet, in the darkness, the voice of Christ comes to the people and says: "Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me."

The voice of Christ calls the people, and invites them to come unto Him. If they will come unto him, they can have eternal life. His arm of mercy was still extended to them.

So, to apply this to us, sometimes we reach dark points in our life where is seems all is going wrong and Satan has complete power. At those times, that same invitation can echo clear: "Come unto me, and ye shall have eternal life." The Savior's arm of mercy is extended to one and all, and He has promised us eternal life is we will but turn to Him.

I love you all. Thank you for your continued support and love. I hope everyone is doing well. Keep up the good work and remember to smile!
Elder Kidd

08/31/2009

2009-09-01T05:47:00.000-07:00

Aloha

It's so funny that mom always talks about taking care of myself and not getting sick... because I got sick this last week. I woke up on Tuesday with a slightly upset stomach, a fever, and a severe sore throat. That night the fever broke and my stomach was ok, but I have been coughing and haven't been able to talk since then. Everyone kept saying go home, rest, but we had too many appointments. So, today, our only appointment was dinner with a family with a 1 month old baby, so we aren't going to that tonight, and I am going to get all rested up so that we can have a fantastic week.

Really quickly, it is funny to hear about Chelsi taking classes I took, and I will be interested to see her programming abilities when I get home!

But we had a really good week. Elder Call (my new companion) is great, but very green. It isn't too uncommon for a DL to train in our mission. There really aren't Sr. or Jr. companions out here either. It is just fun for me to have to balance the district and train a new missionary. He pays attention, wants to learn, is willing to learn, but is scared out of his mind. I have a lot of hope for him though, and I know that he will do great. He is from a little town by Tremonton, and you can kinda tell. He weirded me out the most when he told me that back home he would just grab a handful of grain and chew on it... but he's a great kid.

Right now, our biggest news is one of our investigators named Mike. We had taught him a couple times, but kinda lost touch with him. Well, Friday morning he calls to apologize for not talking to us for a while, and tells us that his wife just had a miscariage, his cousin just shot himself, and he was having a lot of trouble with lawyers. I felt so bad, but at the same time had the thought: "He is being prepared," floating across my mind. Well, we brought a fantastic fellowshipper who's wife (we found out at the lesson) had also had a miscariage at one time. So, after watching Together Forever, talking about families, and talking about our a car that our fellowshipper is going to sell to Mike, Mike really wants to come to church, learn more, and we are super excited. He has 5 kids, so there are 7 in the family. I really want to help them reach the temple, because I know that would mean so much to them.

We also keep working with David, and he is coming along. We spent a lot of time talking about eternal families, and he said that is what he wants for his family. Hopefully we will be able to commit him for baptism this week. We also are working with the husband of a recent convert, and we talked about eternal families with them too (isn't temple marriage amazing?). So, with them and a bunch of 9-year-olds we are going to start working with, it seems this is going to be the transfer of Temple and Keiki baptisms. I am super excited. There is so much to be done.

I also had fun this last week in distric meeting. I took Captain Moroni's example and created a "Title of Kailua" to try and get my missionaries motivated. I'm trying to instill a sense of love and respect for the people in them, or Aloha to be true. Too often people out here think we are strangers, but if we love them, they can see what we are sharing is for them. If God is love, then we ought to show love as well.

So, I hope all is going well for everyone. I love you all, and am continually grateful for all you do. Aloha!

Elder Kidd

2009-08-25T05:17:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of our zone, Elder and Sister Kikuchi, and our mission president and his wife (and his assistants). Can you find me?

08/24/09

2009-08-25T05:14:00.001-07:00

Aloha

Well, I might as well give you the announcement of transfers...... Drum roll please!............ I am staying here, but my companion is flying off the island. What is more....... I am training again (sounds of... well, something). I'm not sure to think right now, but I am super hopeful and confident. I feel a lot more prepared to do it this time, so I hope it all goes well. It will be sad to see Elder Simnitt go, especially when our wards are about to catch fire.

So, it was a good week. The entire district really improved. We had a baptism, and two other areas set up two baptisms a piece. Throw in that we should be able to commit four this week, and Kailua is about to go crazy. I am super excited and proud of my district, and am super excited to help them continue on that path.

We had a good week as well. We still had our struggles, but this week was amazing for finding people to teach. We were able to find four new people to teach this last week, all through tracting (I'm still stunned). This week we should be able to start teaching more people that our members have sent our way, so we are ready to go.

So, the highlight of this last week was that we were able to help Aloha Karratti-Jamora come to the waters of baptism. I don't know how much we did though. She is incredibly smart for a 9 year old, and has way too much attitude too. She's been going to primary for a while though, so I guess that can explain it. We also were able to talk to a lot of former investigators and we should be able to start working with them.

The biggest miracle of this last week was a phone call I got on Friday morning. I answered the phone, and was told that one of our members had a baptism for us. Nelson has been taught the lessons before, but fell through on his date. Well, he has decided that the church is true, and that he wants to be baptized. He is about 80 years old, and my new greenie and I will meet him on Thursday.

Well, the next couple of days will be fun. Elder Simnitt is going to go and say goodbye to all the people he knew. I'm afraid we are running behind today, so I must make this short. I love you all. Remember that the Lord loves you too. Thank you for the love and support you give to me!

Elder Kidd

08/17/09

2009-08-18T16:41:00.001-07:00

Aloha

It has been a good, frustraiting, uplifting, discouraging, exciting, patience-learing week. So, in other words, was a usual week.

We had a lot of appointments set up for this week. We figured it out, we set up about 12 lessons to teach investigators that we were going to have a member with us for. Well, five of those bailed out on us, which was a little discouraging. On the other hand, our bishop called us up and set up an appointment for us with a less-active/part member family. The wife is less active, but is also the daughter of a family from the ward I served in on Kauai. How crazy is that? Her husband and daughter are not members, but the daughter wants to be baptized, and the father is very attentive. The problem is, the mom is having a really hard time, and is in some programs, which makes it difficult to teach. The father and daughter were going to come to church yesterday, but didn't show up, and we don't have a number for them, but we are still super excited.

We also had a mission conference with Elder Kikuchi this last week. It is amazing to hear how many in our family have had some sort of contact with him. He was amazing, and funny at the same time. Most of us (I'm afraid my companion was nodding off) left feeling super motivated and uplifted. He gave us some great ideas as well, so we are excited to impliment those too.

With David, the one we committed but are teaching more privately now, we had a really good discussion with him on Thursday night. He has had some pretty powerful and scarey experiences, so he is really wanting to make sure he makes the right choice for his family. But, I think he knows he will get baptized soon. We also learned that he grew up southern baptist for a bit, so we are weeding out the anti stuff he heard. Loads of fun.

Well, this morning we went on a fun hike, and tomorrow we are having our district meeting in the bottanical gardens (which I believe is where some of Jurrassic Park was filmed) so it should be good. I need to go buy new batteries for my camera... they get drained so fast it is annoying. Anyway, next week I will be able to tell you about a baptism, and what is happening for transfers! I love you all. Thanks for the support that you give me!

Elder Kidd

08/10/09

2009-08-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

Aloha and happy birthday

Yes, first of all I would like to wish a happy birthday to Aubree today! Happy birthday. Also a quick note to Aubree, the idea sounds ok, but it might take a bit of time to get it done.

Also, to answer mom's questions, I haven't ordered contacts, but I have enough for a little while longer, could you please order some, I take my vitamins, but since I didn't at the start of the mission, I have a bit still, and I got my new debit card... I think that was all of them.

So, we had a really good week this last week. We were able to begin teaching 4 new people, committed one of those for baptism, and committed one other guy for baptism. But more explainations.

Monday night we were able to begin teaching this lady named Chindel. She seems really nice, but it also looks as though she had some drug use in the past, and it messed with her brain and body a little bit. She loves to read though, and we are going back tonight to teach her some more.

Tuesday we had a good day. We began with district meeting, where I trained on the conversion process. I taught that we ourselves, and our investigators have to follow a pattern, or circle. We have to have a desire, which leads to us gaining more knowledge, which leads to an action (usually prayer), and finally we receive a spiritual experience or change of heart. Then we have to use that experience to create a desire again, either to learn more or to share what we know. But, the center of this circle is Christ, and like a dog tied to a tree, as we go around and around the circle, the rope or distance from the center gets shorter and shorter. In our analogy, we grow closer to Christ. I thought it went well.

Anyway, Wednesday we went on an exchange with the Zone Leaders. Elder Tominaha and I had a great day. Most of our lessons canceled on us, but we were able to find a new investigator, and we committed David for the 28th of this month (more to come on that story later). It was a hard, but great day in the end, and we were extremely busy.

Thursday Elder Simnitt returned, and we had a fantastic day. We were able to teach 4 lessons and had members with us for each. We taught Loretta again, then we went and taught two new investigators our Warm Mission Leader found for us. One is a former investigator that is going to go to the Laie Visitor Center this week, and the other is a 9 year old girl named Aloha, who is the grandaughter of a member in our ward. She is going to get baptized on the 23rd.

Anyway, we'll skip Friday because I don't remember much. Saturday I had Elder Aldridge with me on an exchange. It has only been a few months since we were companions, so it was interesting. Well, we went by David again, and he told us that he felt a little too pressured, and wasn't going to be ready by the 28th. He still wants to get baptized and be an eternal family though, so he wants to meet on a more private level, so we are happy to obligue. That night we went to a baptisimal service with Loretta, which went well. Elder Stewart (now Brother Stewart) and his family are back to visit, so they came as well. It was fun to meet them. Elder Simnitt was feeling sick, but he got feeling better by the end. Lorretta seemed to like it as well.

So, Sunday, church. Well, church was church. What was cool is that we took Loretta (we saw her a lot this week) to a fireside in Honolulu with Elder Kikuchi, who used to be the mission president here, and has an article in the ensign this month (highly recommended). It was awesome. He is a very powerful speaker, and we are looking forward to our Zone Conference with him this Thursday. We didn't get to talk to Loretta much about it, but we are definatley going to see her this week, and soon. She was touched by it, we could tell. Also, at one point Elder Kikuchi asked me a question as we were sitting on the front row. Well, he was asking who Alma's friend was that took him into his home and cared for him. So he looks down at me and asks, "Well, Elder?" So, I yelled out Amulek. My mission president joked with me afterwards if I hadn't know it, he would have sent me home. So no pressure. But it was amazing.

On a fun note, a tropical storm should be hitting us sometime today, but it should be alright. We will be safe and sound. We're mostly just worried about the other Hurricanes out there right now, but we are well prepared, and the Lord will watch over us.

Thank you all for your continued support, love, and encouragement. I love you all so much!

Elder Kidd

08/03/09

2009-08-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

Aloha!

I love what one of the sister missionaries in my district said to me last night: "We are expecting miracles. We are going to have to go through the trials to be able to see those miracles." It really seems to be that way for our district at the moment.

We had a good week, but definately had some struggles. Elder Simnitt and I had a wonderful start of the week, but a lot of things feel through by the end. We had some good solid lessons, and I think it will lead to a lot in the near future, but it didn't have any initial results. We tried to commit the husband of the lady that got baptized last week, and he is sure that he isn't ready. Well, were pretty sure that with her working on him, he should be ready soon. They both want to go to the temple, and all we have to do is point out that baptism is the step in that direction. Unfortunately he sees no rush. But we have much hope.

I had an interesting baptisimal interview this last week. It took about an hour. The guy had a lot of questions and concerns, but seemed ready by the end. I was wondering about some of his questions, and then we found out yesterday that his roommate is an ex-communicated member, and has been feeding him a bunch of anti stuff. He has postponed his baptism for now, but I have great faith in the missionaries, and I think he will be back on track soon.

I also had a really good exchange with a new elder on Saturday. He has been having a lot of struggles, but we were able to have a good talk, and he felt a lot better by the end of the day. It is interesting to see someone else at that point, but wonderful to be able to help them through those same struggles. It was a wonderful experience.

Oh, a bit of cool info... there is a store over here called Long's Drugs. Well, they sell a bit of everything. The biggest thing is some eastern candy. Well, imagine my surprise when an elder in our zone mentions Tim Tams... yes, they sell tim tams here. So, if anyone wants some that don't have to be shipped from Australia... They are about $3-$4 a package. There may not be an incredible selection, but it has been amazing to have some tim-tam slams.

Well, I hope all is going well for everyone. We are looking forward to this week, and are super excited. We have seen trials, and now we have faith that the Lord will bring miracles. I love you all!

Elder Kidd

07/27/09

2009-07-28T15:18:00.001-07:00

Aloha!

So, it has been another great week. Yesterday was my companion's birthday, and we had a baptism as well. It was nice that I got to meet Jessica (the girl that got baptized) on Saturday and actually teach her before Sunday. I sang at the program, and everyone seemed to like it. The 1st councilor in the bishopbric told me I have to be here for Christmas so I can sing then. So, maybe I will be hanging out in Kaneohe for a while. I would be ok with that.

Our week went well, even though we had some struggles. We had a lot of appointments with people we found tracting that weren't there for their appointment, but that is usual. It just shows once again that you need to get the members involved. We did find one cool guy from the Philippeans who seems interested. We dropped a book of Mormon off yesterday in Tagolog (his native tongue), and he seemed very appriciative. The funny part is that a JW was there teaching another kid while we were waiting for Willie. We resisted the urge to bash with him, and he didn't look at us.

That has been something fun I've noticed about my mission. I have learned a lot about different religions and why they are almost completely crazy. It seems so amazing. Our church just makes sence. It answers all the questions, and so simply... but some don't see it that way, so we go out every day to share those answers with them.

Our next week is looking amazing. We have a lot of lessons schedualed, one with a lady named Lorretta. She has been looking into the church for years, comes to church occasionally, and her brother is a member and told her to get baptized. She just seems to find these little reasons to not join. So, we talked to her about the mighty change of heart that the spirit can bring (Alma 5) into our lives, and we are going back over tomorrow. Throw in a few other people that we are going to start teaching soon, and we are really excited.

I think I need to clarify a little from my email last week. I didn't mean that my companion is a drama king as in he can act, I mean that he is a drama king as in he makes every little thing a huge deal. We have an opptimist serving with a pecimist that is trying to pass simply as a realist (remind anyone of Hitch?), but there is a lot of possibility. Hopefully I can help him, as well as the rest of my district.

This last week, I trained my district on how essential it is to have members with us throughout the whole teaching process, from finding to committing. Next week when I train them again, I am going to go over the conversion process, and also how we need to apply that to ourselves so much, and search for that mighty change of heart in our own service. I know I experienced it, and I am so glad that the spirit was able to do that for me.

I hope all is going well. From the pictures Chelsi sent, it looks like Getta and Gracie are getting so big. Thank you all for your support, and I love you so much!

Elder Kidd

07/20/09

2009-07-21T06:14:00.001-07:00

Aloha from Kaneohe

The challenge for every organization is to build a feeling of oneness, of dependence on one another...because the question is usually not how well each person works, but how well they work together.

I wanted to leave the quote mom sent me on here, and I will explain why in a few minutes. Anyway, Aloha from Kaneohe, or more specifically from Kailua, Waimanalo, and Olomana. My district is in Kailua, which is fairly big, and my two wards are Waimanalo and Olomana, which are largely hawaiian homesteads, so I have officially entered a hawaiian ward. I finally will get to make good use of my Hawaiian Hymm book I got in Kauai. Most everything is in english, but they usually do atleast one song in Hawaiian.

Some good news about things in Hilo. I managed to get a few copies of pictures from other missionaries, so I still have a couple of pictures from Mauna Kea and a couple of other places. Also, I got a lot of pictures with people as I left, was happy to know that I did make an impact in the wards.

But, onto the present. Kaneohe, Waimanalo, and Olomana. My companion is Elder Simnitt from Portland, Oregon. He is a wonderful kid, and very unique. He was a drama king in high school, and has brought a bit of that with him out here, which makes some things fun, but we are doing really well. He is the fifth in a row from his generation(group he came out with from the MTC) that I have been companions with. He was actually companions with Elder Aldridge and Elder Higley in the MTC, so now I've been companions with all three. I've officially decided that his generation will from now on have to refer to me as Uncle John.

Another funny thing, Elder Aldridge is in my district, so I will get to go on exchanges with him and be companions for a day. It is going to be really interesting.

Right now in our wards, I am still trying to get most things figured out, like who the people are (members and non-members). It seems that our wards aren't extremely involved, and one ward doesn't have a lot of trust for missionaries, because the missionaries haven't cared enough to show that they care about the ward. We have some plans to change this, and I think that these two wards will be amazing. They will probably split the missionaries next transfer though, so I will probably be over only one. But, we are excited about this transfer.

This last Friday I gave my first training as a district leader, and I think it went really well. Our mission president talked to us in our last zone conference about Zion, and how to become Zion. So, I extended the challenge to my district. I asked them to begin with themselves, then move to their companionship. As they did that, I promised they would begin to help their wards, and our district would become more zionlike as well(this is why I left that quote at the start). It was an amazing experience for me, because I felt the spirit so strong telling me what to say. I asked all the companionships to come up with a Standard of Excelence (or weekly goal) that they wanted to achieve for a certain number of our key indicators (lessons, new investigators, etc.). I also asked them to set a goal for the number of baptisms they wanted to have that transfer. Well, as a district we totaled 17 baptisms this transfer. While I was talking to them, I promised them we would reach 20 if they would follow my training and become a zionlike district. I am super excited about this next six weeks.

We actually have a lady who is going to get baptized this next Sunday right after church, and we should be able to commit her husband soon as well (well, i think so... I haven't met either one yet...) And we have six people with a set date right now. I did my first baptisimal interview yesterday, and that was a fun experience. That lady's name is Malia, and she is super solid. One of the companionships in our district is two sister missionaries, and they are doing some amazing work. The only problem is, now I feel super responsible to make sure they are ok and taken care of. I was raised too much of a gentleman.

So, all is going great in Kaneohe. We went on a hike as a zone this morning, and it was a lot of fun. I can feel everyone pulling closer together. It's going to be awesome. Keep up the good work at home, and I love you all!

Elder Kidd

07/13/09

2009-07-13T18:19:00.001-07:00

Aloha Big Island

Yep, I'm headed off of the island. We got the call last night, and I am headed back to O'ahu. Then we got another call this morning, and I found out that I will be a District Leader on O'ahu. So, may the Lord bless me in my future endevors.

It has been a great last week though. Unfortuanately Robert and Carey both dogged out of their appointments, but we had a different experience. On Tuesday, we began teaching a guy by the name of Justin Keola Texiera. He is probably the most solid investigator I have ever had. He loved the lesson, so we came back on Saturday. He loved that lesson, so we got him clothes for church. He loved church, and he and his wife (a less active member) have an appointment with the bishop for Tuesday night. He has felt the spirit, he's read atleast all of 2 Nephi and possibly more, and loves the missionaries. I'm grateful the Lord gave me this opportunity to meet him and begin working with him before I leave.

So, that was the greatest part of the week. Other than that, we did our usual. We met with Preston and had a good lesson with him, but we haven't been able to meet with him for about a week. They are a busy family, but hopefully we will see them tonight. Anthony is doing well, we have just been waiting for the courts so we could get him baptized. They are foster boys and their Aunt and Uncle are trying to adopt them. They finally have a court day this week, so hopefully that will go through.

So, it will be fun the next day or two, going to see everyone. I don't know if I will be able to replace the pictures from the memory card that was lost because it is raining today, but I can get them another time. I will remember the places that I want to go to for pictures.

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

Elder Kidd

07/06/09

2009-07-08T21:12:00.001-07:00

Aloha and happy ID4!

It seems like an amazing week, yet when we looked at our numbers for the week, and they were a lot lower than we expected. Either way, the week seemed to go well, we worked hard, and got a lot done (except for the 4th. Hard to do anything when EVERYONE is on the beach).

Anyway... updates. Carey O'oka is struggling a lot, and has relapsed a bit on his smoking. Also, he seems to be sinking into another depression, so we are going to try to help him build his faith in his Savior and endure through. It looks like it is going to take a bit more time.

We are working with a man named Preston Ducosin, who has been married to an active member for about 16 years or so. He has never been baptized, but has gotten close a couple of times. Well, he wants to be able to baptize and confirm his son, who is 7 right now. He loves the missionaries, and he and his wife would do anything for us. In fact, last Monday they gave us mac&cheese, and a suave soap and lotion kit. We have another appointment tonight. Preston has said that he has been picturing his baptism, he just isn't sure when it is going to be, so we are going to continue working with him and helping him to his goal.

We also were able to work with Anthony this week as well. They finally have a court date for next week, so hopefully we will be able to finally have all the legal issues out of the way.

The craziest thing happened on Tuesday though. I went on an exhchange with our ZL's in their ward. Well, we had one appointment cancel, so we went to see another lady (aunty Lily), and all hell broke loose:

We came and she(aunty lily) started talking to us about how the cops had just come and left. They wanted to take her "friend" that has been living with her for a while. Well, she swore at them (and kind of to us as she was telling us) and they left. Apparently she usually is a super nice lady, and super active. Well, we show up, talk to her for a bit and she starts into her son and sister. While we're sitting there, who should drive up but... THE SISTER(sister Crawley)!! So, they argued a bit, and we tried to leave, but the sister asked us to stay. So, there we are standing by our car, wondering what the heck is going on (especially me since I know none of these people). While they continue to argue, who should drive up behind us but... THE SON(Scott) and his family. They run out to join the sister and start pleading with Aunty Lily to get her to come with them to a meeting with the bishop (that she didn't go to the day before). Well, meanwhile, the "Friend" (Collin) is telling her not to go. Well, Scott tries to cast him out or something, and he leaves. Eventually they get her to come out of the house. Scott hugs her, and they convince her to go with them.

So, it takes a little bit to get her into the car, and Aunty Lily wants her purse. So, Aunty Lily's sister (Sister Crawley) convince Collin to give her Aunty Lily's purse. Meanwhile, Scott and his family leave with Aunty Lily, taking both cars. So, we have to take Sister Crawley with us to the church. On the way, she informs us the Aunty Lily has changed since Collin moved in with her, and apparently they are engaged now. Collin has a rap sheet a mile long, and has threatened Scott and sister Crawley. Collin creeped me out.

On the way back, Aunty Lily had been riding with Scott, but they moved her to the other car with Scott's wife. Right by the church, we catch up to them, and look into the car with Aunty Lily and Scott's wife to see: Aunty Lily trying to beat the trash out of Scott's wife. So, Sister Crawley runs out of the car, Scott gets out of his car, and they escort Aunty Lily to the church, we get all the cars in, and then Elder Miller and I run away. Great thing is, during that time, no one asked for my name. Ok, follow that?

The rest of the week went well though. Saturday no one was home, so we eventually went out with the missionaries to watch the fireworks which was a lot of fun, and we took lots of pictures. Which you will see soon. So, that really was the big point of the week.

It has been great the last little while to once again be able to testify repeatedly about Joseph Smith and about the Atonement, two of our greatest messages. With a knowledge that Christ suffered for our sins, and has felt all of our pains, we know that we can endure anything. Knowing the heavens are not sealed, and that there are prophets again, we know that we are guided through everything. These are the basis that we build upon. Thank you all for your continued support. I love you all!

Elder Kidd

06/29/09

2009-07-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea is a very big, tall, dormant volcanoe. And it was very cold up there in the morning. While driving up, I watched the thermomiter in the car dip down to about 38-39, but start back up again and settle at about 43-45. And we were so glad it did. I don't have any coats (seeing as it is Hawaii and figured I wouldn't need any) so with simply a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a button up shirt, I was cold. Well, so were the other four missionaries and the member that took us up there. Figure, we are all used to 65 and above. In fact, 65 is really cold anymore to all of us. So, 45 is very cold. But it was awesome.

We got to watch the sunrise, and even got to go into one of the observatories. Brother Tanaka that took us up ownes an construction company and does a lot of electrical work, and has worked on many if not all of the observatories. So, we got to go in. Those things are huge. The scientists must have a lot of patience though. Apparently they sometimes spend a week looking for a source of light that may not exist. Lots of patience.

But, on the way down we stopped by Brother Tanaka's house so that he could show us his trophie room. I attatched one picture of that, so I think you can get an idea of the types of trophies he has.

But it has been a good week. It actually was one of the harder weeks I have had so far in Hilo though. We had 4 lessons lined up for Monday and Tuesday... 3 canceled, and one the fellowshipper didn't make it. That one though was with Preston Ducosin. He is married to a member, who is active, and has nearly gotten baptized before. Well, his son turns 8 next year, and he wants to be able to baptize and confirm him, therefore we have a goal. The greatest part is that he doesn't want to be just a number, so Elder Thomson and I assured him that we hate numbers, and that we want to help him. He is a great guy, and I am looking forward to working with him more.

Carey was unable to make it to church yesterday, but when we called, he hadn't smoked in three days, and was working hard for that goal. We have a lesson with him tomorrow, but I will be on an exchange in another ward.

Mason (the golfer) dropped us this last week though. He says he doesn't have any more questions, and keeps saying he is too busy to do anything. Luckily, he is the cousin of a family in our ward who are super active and missionary minded. I am sure that they will keep working with him, and maybe one day he will be prepared. We planted a seed.

On Friday we had our Zone conference. It was great, atleast for me. My companion didn't have a good interview with our mission president, so he wasn't very happy, but I left with a renewed desire to work hard and do my best. Hopefully I can help instil that in him.

It was good to see pictures of the reunion, and it looks like everyone had fun. I love the shirt that Jeremy was wearing. I hope everyone is doing well. Remember, the Lord loves us enough to send His Son here to suffer for each and every one of us, simply to offer us the chance to accept that sacrifice. May we all accept that sacrifice, and use the atonement to help us draw nearer to our Savior and Heavenly Father.

As always, be well, thanks for all the continued support, and I love you all!

Elder Kidd

06/22/09

2009-06-23T05:25:00.001-07:00

Aloha, and happy Father's Day

Yes, happy Father's Day. Hopefully all the fathers had a wonderful day, and will get back to work and let the wife be the boss today ;-) My companion and I found a fun card at walmart last week. It had a big pin-on button that said "I'm the Boss." On the front it said, "Dad, wear this and be proud." Then inside: "Just make sure to give it back to mom tomorrow." Anyway, I hope all the fathers had a great day. We had a member of our ward wish Elder Thomson and I a happy future father's day. That was interesting...

Secondly, can I say that it is amazing how young some missionaries look? There is a new greenie in our zone that looks like he is about 15. He is from Arizona, and just made it out to Hawaii. He got stuck in the MTC for an additional week and a half because of the swine flu. Well, he is super green, super young looking, and super making me want to laugh. I feel kinda bad, but it is amazing to see this new
kid.

On a physical note, I have started running, jumping rope, lifting weights, etc. a bit more, and this morning I was down to about 195, or the weight I was when I got to Hawaii! My shoes are doing well, I am just having fun getting my body used to running again (or period...), so I have been having fun with a lot of sore muscles.

But, it has been a fun week. My companion's frustrations came to a point last Tuesday, but nobody pushed him over the edge, and he finally calmed down back to normal, so it was a better week. We have some things going really well, and having struggles with others, as usual.

Carey O'oka is continueing to do well. We moved his baptisimal date back until the 17th of July to make sure he is over his smoking problem, but he is doing really well. He played for a stake activity (a pop's concert) Saturday night, and was the best performer there. I went in with low expectations, and Carey's songs, and two numbers by two girls (one flutist and cellist) were the only surprising ones. The stake's institue choir less than pleasant, and one lady that could play the piano well shouldn't have been singing. But Carey stole the night with his fine piano ability. It was amazing.

We still haven't been able to meet with Ahia, but she did send us a text message last week, and she should have a day off soon. Hopefully we should be able to get ahold of her this week.

Right now we are trying to do a lot of work with less active and part member families in our ward. We have had a few good successes. We helped one family decide that they want to be active again, and go to the temple. It has been amazing to see some people in church. Like yesterday, a lady named Timbelyn came to church. She hasn't been in about 8 years, so that was amazing.

Apparently a couple of weeks ago we offended a less active lady. Actually, the one that we took the vodka and cigarretts from a little while ago. We weren't entirely certain how, but it seems she has gone back to her old ways. We are a little scared that she might have been doing something prior to the night we talked to her and offended her. Anyway, she is ignoring us now, even though we made brownies and keep going by... yeah...

I hope all is going well for everyone. Remember, no one has ever fallen off the path if they had atleast one hand on the iron rod. I love you all!

Elder Kidd

06/15/09

2009-06-15T18:04:00.001-07:00

Aloha!

Ahh, what an interesting week it has been. It seems when life is interesting, Heavenly Father throws in an extra ingredient to change things up just a little more. Hopefully this soup tastes alright in the end.

After our lesson with Mason on Monday, we had a fun P-day. Towards the evening, my companion and I had a funny experience. He wanted some Jamba Juice, but they were closed, so we ran by Starbucks instead. Yes, I got hot chocolate in Hawaii, but it was still good. The funny part was that right after that, we ran to the Post Office to send out a package. Well, while I am waiting (and drinking my hot chocolate), one of our bishops walks in to get his mail. Well, Elder Thomson reaches over and turns my cup so that our bishop can't see the Starbucks logo on it. I just started laughing and told him he caught me drinking my hot chocolate. What are the odds of having the bishop walk in on you while you are drinking what looks like coffee? Just like mom's fear of buying a beer to marinate meat, that the bishop would show up in line right behind her at the store. Well, knowing Bishop Coach Steve, he would have asked why she only had one...

Anyway, Tuesday we had a good appointment with Carey O'oka. We were able to teach him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and set a date for his baptism. We are going to have to move it back though, because he has to quit smoking, but he is progressing towards that goal.

Tuesday night we went to a member family for dinner, and had.... Thanksgiving Dinner! Or atleast it seemed like it. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and crannberry. It was amazing (well, the potatoes weren't as good, but it is Hawaii. We were happy about potatoes). So, it felt like November for about 45 minutes.

Wednesday night we went and watched the Testiments with a less-active family in the ward. We have been working with them for a while, and they still have their testimonies, it just seems hard to get them to church. Well, at the end of the movie, I saw Brother Mahi drying his eyes, and they were at church yesterday. They are trying to get their 8-year-old grandaughter baptized, so hopefully they will stay active afterward.

Thursday, we had potatoes again for dinner (these weren't very good either), so we were amazed that we were at 2 meals with potatoes in a week (we usually have A LOT of rice). That night my companion and I had a good talk trying to motivate each other, and I realize I may have a lot to do to help my companion. I'm trying to think of how I can help him to want to be out here for the right reason.

Friday night we had potatoes again for dinner (we were amazed!) and even more amazing was to find out that the husband just turned 80. We thought he was just over 50. He looks amazing, and has such a wonderful spirit.

So, this week had some trouble getting ahold of a lot of our investigators, because so many are extremely busy. We called Mason last night, and he is booked, but really wants to meet with us again. After our last lesson, we are super excited to meet with him too. We ran into Ahia last Monday at Safeway, and it seems like there is a filmcrew at her workplace. Hopefully we can get ahold of her soon too. Add that to a guy we found tracting on Friday, who was actually home for the appointment on Saturday (first time I went back and someone was there. It was amazing), and we have a lot of potential. We have some hard work to do, but hopefully the Lord will bless us.

As always, thank you for your continued support. Have a great week, and a great Father's Day all of you fathers! I love you all.

Elder Kidd

MTC / Oahu

2009-06-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I don't have dates for these but here are some of my pictures.

This is when I was first at the MTC and first got to Hawaii.

Me and My first companion with a member at their baptism (top left)

06/08/09

2009-06-09T06:08:00.001-07:00

Aloha

There are definately some benefits to a new transfer. One of those is the new missionary in the pad. He seems to be distracting me from his companion (The DL), so he hasn't been getting on my nerves as much this week.

The bad thing seems to be that my companion has gotten in a bad mood. I'm not entirely sure why, but I have some suspicions. His sister got married on Saturday, he broke some of the work out equiptment, and he is stuck in Hilo (he hates Hilo). Basically, I feel like the line from Hitch: "And if that sign on your forehead that says"Go Away" doesn't say it..." (Edited on purpose). Its been a rough couple of days. Hopefully by tonight it will be better. It doesn't seem to be as of yet, but thats what P-days are for!

Anyway, this last week was a bit of a rough one. We had a few cancelations, a few no shows, and we are having a really hard time getting in touch with Ahia. She has been really busy at work lately thought. A group of supervisors or something like that came in from Missiouri and her boss is out of town, meaning... PANIC! She is in charge, so she has been extremely busy. She said she was going to be in church yesterday, but didn't make it, and we couldn't get in touch with her. I still have high hopes though, and I think this week will go better.

As for Carey O'oka (the 25+ year investigator), we have an appointment with him tomorrow right after our district meeting, and he seems extremely excited. He came to church yesterday, and made quite a few good comments in Gospel Essentials. He says he wants to get baptized soon, and now has made it clear that HE wants home lessons, so foreward we go!

We had a really good lesson with a media referal we got this morning. His name is Mason. We have been struggling with him a bit in the recent past. He wants a sign, and keeps arguing with a lot that we say. We finally found a good analogy this morning, and commited him to read and pray about that Book of Mormon. Well, when we left, he was reading. It was as if his whole countinence changed while we were there. It was amazing. He is super busy right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if he called us today or tomorrow and asked us to come over really quickly because he knows it's true. We're super excited!

It's going to be amazing to see the house all different when I get home. I half want to claim the downstairs bedroom already, but then I realize I won't be home long before school starts.

So, there are definatley ups right now. There are a few downs, but that is how it goes on a mission. It is all good though, and life is going well. Thank you all for your continued support, and I hope all is going well. I love you all!

Elder Kidd

06/01/09

2009-06-08T18:33:00.001-07:00

Aloha!

Well, that time has come for transfers again, and I have found out that.... my companion and I are staying together (much astonished sounds and gasping). Yes, for the first time on my mission, I will have a companion longer that a transfer. Unfortunately, my district leader is staying, so it may be an intersting 6 weeks.

It has been a fantasitc, crazy, unnerving, and miraculous week. We started out on Tuesday by finally being able to meet up with Ahia, who I had mentioned before in my emails. It turns out she hasn't read most of the Book of Mormon, but she has read a bit, and felt the spirit as well. She is dating a member, and works with afore mentioned member's brother. The brother gave her a Book of Mormon a while ago, but she forgot about it and lost it. Well, the boyfriend gave her a quad, which she began reading. Imagine our surprise when we meet her, and she says, "Oh, let me get my stuff," and then grabs a quad. It began a long conversation that proved to us that she is golden. She has the desire to know and learn. She came to church yesterday, but had to leave early for work. She liked it though, and told us she really wants to meet with us again. We will be happy to comply.

We also had a good lesson with Cathy, but are having struggles with her. She likes most everything about the church, but has some interesting beliefs that she holds to very dearly. We simply asked her to read and pray and promised she would receive answers she is looking for. We aren't sure if she is crazy or not, but she sure seems crazy sometimes. We hope for the best and will continue to help her though.

On Friday we went to dinner with Carey O'oka, who is the man that has been investigating the church for 25 years and recently told us that he doesn't want home lessons. He did want to have us come for dinner though. While at dinner, we met a friend of his who has talked to missionaries before. She said that the only reason she didn't get baptized before was because she didn't like the idea of worshipping dead people. Well, we finally figured out that she meant baptisms for the dead, so we explained what they really are. We are meeting with her on Wednesday at 7.

Speaking of Carey O'oka though, he wants us to teach her at his house (but he still doesn't want home lessons) and he told us and a few members yesterday at church that he wants to be baptized soon (but still doesn't seem to want us to be teaching him) but really likes us... yeah....

The crazy thing was that night. We went and watched Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration with a recent convert in our ward. Well, she lives right across from Barbara and Robert (two investigators we are pretty sure are crazy). Well, it turns out Barbara had overdosed on something, so our ward mission leader had to call the ambulance for her. It was an intersting experience. Anyway, we left and apparently she came walking out later by herself. She comes home from the pych ward today.

Saturday we were able to meet with Tara, an investigator we have had for a while that has a problem getting work off on Sunday. We had a good lesson with her, so hopefully she will be able to make more of an effort to get work off now.

This morning we had a fun lesson with Mason, the golfer who has issues with religion. We taught the plan of salvation, but spent most of the time answering questions. He has a lot of valid concerns, but it seems as though he may have dabbled in some anti-lititure at one point (something he said seemed like a line from "The godmakers"). He wants a sign, and I felt like a broken record player telling him to pray and ask if things were true. So, we took a step back and asked him to pray if God was real. We are meeting with him at the church on Friday, and hopefully he will feel the spirit there.

So, that has been our week. Things are going really well over here, and we are excited. I want to say thank you for the many birthday wishes I received, and say that I love the newsletters I get from the family. I hope all is going well for everyone, thank you for your continued success, and I love you all!

Elder Kidd

P.S. These are some pictures of a sunset a couple of weeks ago. The vog was crazy that morning.

05/25/09

2009-06-08T18:31:00.002-07:00

Malo e lele

We'll try a little tongan this week...

Well, it seems the thing I learned most this week is that there are a a lot of crazy people in Hilo. And when I say crazy, I mean completley off their rockers. The problem is, as missionaries we listen to them because we want to help them, and then they love us because no one else in the world listenes to them. By the time we realize they are not accountable and that teaching them may not be the best course of action in the world, we are their best friends, and can't get away from them.

The greatest part was when my district leader told my companion and I that one ladies salvation was on our shoulders if we didn't teach her. Well, my comanion works out for 90 minutes every day, and his only complaint is that we don't have enough weight for him, and I weigh over 200 lbs (but barely! I'm going down). Lets just say we both just stared at him and pondered over whether it would be worth it to get transfered out of this area for hitting him. We decided against that action though.

But, we are working with some sane people as well, and we got a referal this morning of a girl that told her friend she is ready for the missionaries to come over (oh yeah, she has already read the Book of Mormon up to 4 Nephi), so super excited are we!

Last night we had an interesting night. Our zone decided to have a movie night at the chapel. We watched the Testiments. The funny thing was, my companion and I forgot to invite anyone, so we had it announced in our wards on sunday (only once). Well, we had two members from each of our wards, and two new investigators that were there (I think two other people that weren't missionaries showed up). So, we really enjoyed the movie.

Right after that, we got a message from a less active in our ward that we have been working with. She has a smoking and heart problem. Well, she was panicing (sp? nothing looks right on spelling that word), so we went over and gave her a blessing. It was amazing the change that happened during the blessing. It is a true testimony of the power of the priesthood.

I gave a talk yesterday in one of our wards, and decided to speak on Joseph Smith. On these thoughts, I tried to help our ward see the true need to have a testimony in Joseph Smith and what he was able to do for us. We need to follow his example and ask of God. Remember his words after the First Vision? "I had seen a vision. I knew it, and I knew God knew it, and I could not deny it." May we all strive to apply those words to our own testimony: I know it, and I know God knows it, and I cannot deny it.

Ofa'atu, and mahalos, and much aloha!

Elder Kidd

05/18/09

2009-06-08T18:31:00.001-07:00

Aloha

Right now I can't tell if I am a little sick, or just suffering from the vog (volcanic fog, nice poisonus, sulferus gasses). Either way, coughing has been a common thing this last week, but oh well. Proves that Hawaii isn't always the greatest place in the world.

This last week has been an intersting one. We had some ups, some downs, some "What the"s and some "Hmmm"s.

One of our biggest ups is that we got a referal from Provo (which they got from a member who just moved from our ward) for a guy in our area. He is a little skeptical of religions, but is willing to put it to the test. He seems like a great guy, and could definiatley use the gospel.

One down was that two of our investigators dropped us on Monday. Well, one is moving to O'ahu for the summer, but he does want missionaries coming there. One of our zone leaders thinks he may be headed to the ward he lives in, so that would be awesome. The other is Carey O'oka (yes, it can sound a little like Kareokee (sp?)). We called on Monday to try to set up an appointment with him, and he told us that he doesn't feel ready for the gospel yet. But, we found out yesterday that he is Bi-Polor, so that might be why. We asked the bishop to send someone a little more familiar over first though.

We have also realized this week that there seem to be a lot of interesting (and by intersting I mean absolutely crazy) people in Hilo, and we are teaching a couple. We are going to have our bishop meet them before we get too far along in teaching. Our mission president told me that "for lack of a better word, they become his problem after they are baptized". So yeah... our bishop is happy that we are doing that though.

We had zone conference on Friday, and that was a "hmmm" moment for my companion and I. It was a very good zone conference, but everything seemed to be focused on baptism. My companion and I came to the conclusion afterwards (and we pretty much had before Friday as well) that we are going to do everything we can to help people get to baptism, but we aren't going to force them. We both want solid converts who aren't going to fall away. Of course baptism is a goal, and what we would like, but we don't want to get baptism hungry, like a lot of missionaries seem to be. Call me rebelious, but I can't bring myself to force people.

We are looking forward to this week though. There is a lot of potential. If all goes as hoped, we should be able to help 7-8 people come to sacrament this sunday. Add others we hope to find this week, and our areas are starting to see some better activity. So, onward, forward we go.

We had a very interesting converstation with a member last night. He was talking about the research our most active non-member in our ward (thats a funny story) did. Basically, he talked about how stereotypes destroy everything in our life. Not just about races and cultures, but towards adults and children as well. We assume how people are going to react, and they assume how we are going to react. Let us rise above and follow how the gospel tells us we should respond. Our Savior asked us to live in the world, but not be a part of the world.

I love you all, and thank you for all of your support!

Elder Kidd

05/11/09

2009-06-08T18:28:00.001-07:00

Aloha a day later

And about 10 hours of sleep later as well. Since I wasn't feeling well yesterday, and it was Mother's Day, my companion and I came home a bit early, planned quickly for today, and then I went to bed. Well, I think that was the first time in a long time that I have actually gone to bed before 9, and then I woke up this morning at 6:30. It was extremely nice. I still have a bit of a cough, but am doing a lot better.

Ahh, for this week. Monday we had an interesting day. We took our P-day a day later so that our Zone Leaders wouldn't be alone, so Monday we went to work. We were able to teach a lesson to this couple that came to church a couple of times with a member that lives in the apartment across the way from them. Well, we aren't entirely sure how accountable they are, but it is not our place to judge. Either way, they had a friend there that lives in another ward who enjoyed the lesson, so we gave his information to those elders. We'll update you next week on Robert and his girlfriend Barbara.

We were able to provide a little bit of service for Kathy and Pearleen this week. They have had car trouble, and the last little bit was a flat tire that we were able to change... and then change later. The spare hadn't been used in so long that it was very flat, so they ended up just taking a taxi to get a new tire. We put that on for them as well. We were able to have a lesson with Pearleen about family history, and are going to see her and Kathy on Wednesday.

Unfortunantly, Carry O'oka canceled his appointment this week, didn't make it to church, and we never could catch him home. We have to call him today and set up an appointment for tomorrow.

Thursday we had a bit of fun with a lady in one of our wards who is trying to quit smoking. She is a member, but is trying to come back. Anyway, we typed up a contract for her to follow. She is going to quit smoking before May 30. I told her it is her birthday present to me. We had a little too much fun with the contract making is sound as corny as possible.

Saturday morning we had another Free Car Wash to try to find new investigators. The problem was, we didn't have enough signs to advertise it (we've got plans to make it a big and regular activity). Well, we had one lady amongst all that came who seemed solid (she had a head cover to go into the chapel). She thought we were so nice, but is catholic and very happy there. Ever wish you could carry around spiritual 2X4s to smack people with?

And of course yesterday, the wonderful phone call home. It was great to be able to talk to those who came, and sorry to those that couldn't make it, guess church got in the way (dang mormons). I spent most of church trying to cough and sneeze up my lungs. It was a lot of fun. But, it was a wonderful day to remember mothers. So, happy late mother's day to all of the mothers out there, especially to my own. Thank you all for your continued support, your prayers, your love, and everything else. I love you all!

Elder Kidd

05/04/09

2009-06-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

Aloha!

Kiah huh? I hope she enjoys the movie Willow. It scared me to death when I was a kid... But it is a very pretty name. I couldn't open the pictures that Stacie sent though. I did get the ones mom sent.

Anyway, Aloha! It has been a fun week in Hilo, and a very warm one as well. We are starting to get out of the rain a little bit, and get some sunshine. I am starting to remember last year when I first got out here though. It was hot, and I think I prefer the rain.

Hmmm... so what happened this last week... On Tuesday we were able to go and see Carey O'oka again and have a lesson with him. He is doing well, just struggling to get his heart in the right place. He wants to be baptized, and he wants to know it is true, he's just looking for that confirmation right now. So, always a fun time. He can't meet tomorrow, but we should see him on Sunday.

We also had fun doing service on Tuesday as well. And when I say fun, I mean we spent the whole time wondering what in the heck we were doing it for. The lady is a little crazy, and simply likes free labor to try to get the land cleared she is trying to sell... Yeah, so we have been told by numberous people to cease going over there, and we are following that advice. I feel really sorry for her and her husband, but I think she is crazy too, and we don't have time to help her earn a profit off of a bad financial decision.

Oh, by the way, dakine is a word used in Hawaii to mean just about anything, so "small kine" would be small things. "Choke" means a lot. Thought I would try and throw some pigeon in for everyone. Try looking up "Da Jesus Book" to get a copy of the pigeon bible.

Also, I said my district leader is interesting because he is driving me crazy. He is the type of person who doesn't ask, he just does. Throw in that he enjoys pinning things on everyone else, slipping out of doing things, and acts like roalty, he's getting on my nerves. So, a perfect opportunity to learn patience has arrived.

Tuesday night we were able to see Tara, and take a recent convert with us (Helen). We had a good lesson about tithing and fast offerings, and Tara told us that she is working on getting Sundays off (still) and is sincerely searching for answers about what is true. She likes what we teach, but knows she needs that witness. So, add her to Carey O'oka, and Ikaika (Ikaika wants to get baptized, knows it's true, but can't afford to move out of his girlfriends apartment) and we have a lot of solid investigators who are just having those tests of faith at the moment. Slightly frustrating as a missionary, but you do your best, pray for them, and pray for inspiration as to how to help them.

Wednesday we were able to see Kathy and Pearleen and had a good discussion with them. My companion and myself are both wondering if they are crazy or not, but we are still trying to help them. They are very in touch with the "Energy" side of things, so we are trying to help them see that even "energy" comes from Heavenly Father. They weren't at church yesterday though, and we haven't been able to get ahold of them. We'll let you know what happens.

Thursday we had an interesting evening. We taught a good lesson to a less active young man in our ward (who really wants to come to church, but work makes it difficult) and his girlfriend (who is a recent convert and less active with him... two birds, one stone?). The lesson was great, but they live across the street from a couple that is very active, very kind, and a little senile. Well, as we were leaving to go to our dinner appointment, the husband waved us over. When we got there, he handed us each a sandwhich and some veggie chips (they were actually really good), a glass of milk, and some garlic bagle bites. Well, missionaries never turn down food, so we ate it. Well, the conversation starts, "Do you have a dinner tonight?", "Yep", "At what time? 6?", "Yep, at six.", "Oh, you're late. Eat up.". I love brother Auld. So, my companion and I weren't very hungry for our dinner at the New Star Chineese resturant.

The food wasn't terrific though, so I don't know if we minded. I prefered the tomatoe and bacon sandwhich the Aulds gave us. The sad part was that while we were eating, the song "I'm Going Home" by Dautry (spelling even close?) came on. Well, yeah, thats too funny and would make anyone atleast a little homesick. But we laughed about it too (as we sang it to ourselves).

Thursday morning we went to Sister Hess (a less active we are working with) just in time. We came in and she burst into tears because it seemed everything was mounting up on her. Well, that's really not good for someone who has had atleast one heart attack, and possibly two. So, we watched the Restoration with her, calmed her down, swept her floors, and cheered her up. She felt a lot better when we left, and made it to church.

That afternoon we went to see Gail (the buddist lady). While we were there, three of her buddist friends showed up. Well, this wasn't a good finding activity, and most missionaries will agree that friends showing up seems to distract from the lesson. It doesn't help that when they come in they each had to chant and bow to a little shrine thing in the room. Hopefully they were listening while I was bearing testimony of Christ, but it didn't seem that way. They didn't seem to hear anything we said at all, but no effort is wasted, right?

Anyway, Saturday night we went to a reception held at the stake center. If you think you have seen big receptions, you haven't seen anything. There were well over 1,000 people that attended. They had great food though, and a samoan slap dance at the end. That was fun. (You should look up on youtube and see if you can find one. They are really cool.)

Well, as we walked back to our pad, I had to back our Zone Leaders out (stand behind the car and make sure no one was coming). Well, as they were driving away, I thought I would be funny, so I was going to jump and push off their trunk a little to get higher... Yeah, stupid. Well, I either misjudged how fast they were going, or they hit the gas as I did it, and it pulled me off balance. So, I hit the ground on my feet, but couldn't hold myself up and took a fall into the asphault. They didn't even notice though, and went home without stopping. They came over later to see the damage, and still feel really bad about it. My palms are a little torn up, and my left knee, and a little scrap above my elbow are all I got. I'll send pictures next week of my bloody mess. The good news is that my shirt and pants are fine!

I'm healing up really well (and yes, I am using triple antibiotic ointment) but a little sore. We went to see our ward missionary (who is the RM who just got back) off at the airport this morning. He is headed to California for the rest of the summer, and then to Snow College. His name is Michael Straight (maybe Aaron or Collin Jensen will run into him). It has been a lot of fun working with him, so we wished him luck.

Now for the words of wisdom: Don't play leapfrog with a unicorn. Oh wait...

Maybe I can tag along with I think it was Elder Oaks, who gave a talk about testimony. A testimony is not a travelogue, a thankimony, or a stand up comic routeen. It is a statement of truth that bears witness of Christ and His restored gospel. Stories can teach us things, but a testimony is a witness of Christ. May we all strive to bear a true testimony so that it can allow the spirit to touch the hearts of all those who hear us.

I love you all, and I will be calling home probably about 5 AM here, so 9 AM there next Sunday morning for mother's day. I can't wait to talk to everyone. Thank you all for all the support and love you give and have given me. I love you all.

Elder Kidd

04/27/09

2009-06-08T18:26:00.002-07:00

Aloha Actually

Thought I would try something a little bit different.

So, it has been an interesting week here in Hilo. I have a new companion, my old companion is up the road about an hour and a half in Waimea, and my new district leader is.... interesting. I'll let you know how that one turns out.

My new companion is Elder Thomson, from Twin Falls. He has been out the same amount of time as Elder Aldridge has (and Elder Bagley and Elder Higley). I'm wondering if I am going to be companions with everyone in their generation (or group from the MTC) through the rest of my mission. I know everyone's name at this point. I hope not though. Elder Thomson and I are getting along and I am looking forward to this transfer.

We had some struggles this week getting in contact with our investigators, so not a whole lot new has happened. We were able to teach the gentleman who wants to be baptized, and he is progressing. He wants his son to baptise him, but knows that he needs to do some things prior. Apparently he has been investigating the church for the last 20 years.... So yeah, we've got to figure out how to help him get a secure testimony and quit smoking first, all small kine.

We are starting to meet with choke people from our wards though. I realized that I didn't know the members out here very well, so I am going to fall back on what I did over on Kaua'i a little bit: visit the members, get to know them, let them know you, show them you care, and then remind them about missionary work. Seemed to work out there, and I think we need a bit of that here. The members seem to have forgotten who the missionaries are. But, our slow ward (one with not a lot going on) is starting to see a little bit of movement.

One interesting note: the bishop of the slower ward (Kaumana) has a son that is serving in the Tempe Arizona mission, where Felipe is.

So, I just realized that mother's day is coming up rapidly. Weird, I'm gonig to be able to call home again. It seems like just yesterday that I was calling on Christmas. I don't remember when church is, so we may have to work around that. I am thinking I can call early (about 8:30 there) or maybe later in the evening (around 6:30-7:30). Just let me know what would work best so we can coordinate our calling. We have cell phones, so we will just be calling from those since it has free minutes on weekends.

So, to clarify, S-lyn is really the girls name. It is pronounced 'S' (as in the letter S) and then lynn (as in uncle lynn). They are chuukese, so it was interesting. I was so scared I was going to mess up the name. One other bit of good news, the three girls that I helped teach in Kaua'i got baptized the Saturday after S-Lyn. Hopefully Elder Bagley will send me pictures like he said he would.

Weather here has been fun. It actually rained almost non-stop all of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We got a bit of a break on Saturday, and a little today. Hopefully it will stay because we are going to play ultimate frisbee this afternoon.

I hope everyone is doing well. Keep up the faith, remember to smile, and remember that Christ was completely alone so that we never have to be if we will do what is right (I think Elder Holland has become my new favorite Apostle. He's awesome).
As we say in Hawaii: We are grateful to be in the Hawaii, Honolulu mission, the Aloha mission.
The (A)tonement of Jesus Christ is our message
(L)ove of God and others is our motivation, and
(O)bedience to the commandments and mission rules is our strength. By sharing the gospel with others, we can give them the
(HA), the breath of life, even eternal life. ALOHA!

I love you all!

Elder Kidd

04/20/09

2009-06-08T18:26:00.001-07:00

Aloha

Well, transfer calls were last night, and I am staying in Hilo for atleast 6 more weeks... but my companion is not. Elder Aldridge is headed for the other side of the island (Kona) on Wednesday, and my companion is coming over from Kona. So, this makes 7 companions in 7 transfers. I think I am going to ask my mission president if he is trying to set a record with me for most companions in a mission. There are 17 transfers, maybe I can hit 17 companions... anyways...

This last week was good, but in its own way, hard. S-lyn got baptised on Tuesday, and everything went very well. We spent a bit of time preparing her, and making sure everything was good for Sunday as well for the confirmation (which went great as well). She is doing fantasitc, and is still excited.

We had a bit of trouble being able to get in touch with people and teach them this last week though. Richard was busy on Tuesday, so that fell through, and he might be moving this week. We will have to see. Cathy and Pearleen we were able to teach, and we had an interesting lesson. Pearleen is excited to be back in the church, and feels she needs to do geneology as soon as she can. Cathy, I've decided, has taken a little of everything from every religion and combined it into one big belief. She believes in Christ, but reincarnation, but exaltation as well. Go figure. She is reading the Book of Mormon, and I know that will help her to take the steps she needs to. She read our palms while we were there last time as well. Apparently I have a lot of guides... whatever that means.

We are still working with a cool kid named Ikaika. His family lives on O'ahu, out on the west coast (the rough side). He knows the Book of Mormon is true, and knows he needs to get baptized. The only problem is that he is living with his girlfriend, and can't afford to live anywhere else. He did mention that he is probably moving to O'ahu for the summer to work, so hopefully that is a good sign. He is a great kid, and has an amazing spirit.

We had a really cool experience yesterday in our slower ward. In the PEC meeting, the bishop told us of a gentleman who used to come to church somewhat regularily while he was still married to his member wife. He has a son who is an RM, and is very active in the church. well, this fine gentleman called our bishop on saturday night to ask when church was, and to tell him he wants to be baptized. So, we are going to beging teaching this fine man tomorrow.

In our other ward, we have a lesson with another 9-year-old tonight, who wants to be baptized on his birthday, which is early June, so that is going well, as well.

So, the next 6 weeks should be interesting. Mother's Day in a few weeks (I don't know when I will be calling yet. Sorry), and then my birthday a few weeks after that. I will no longer be a teenageer! (i probably spelt that wrong. Oh well.) I am excited, but sad to see my companion go. There is a lot of work to be done in our two wards, and they are starting to get moving. The Lord is blessing us, and I pray He will continue to do so. The sun is starting to come out more in Hilo as well. It is time to push forward with much vigor! Keep smiling, thank you all for your continued support (sounds like a bad PBS comercial) and I love you all!

Elder Kidd

04/13/09

2009-06-08T18:25:00.002-07:00

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

04/06/09

2009-06-08T18:25:00.001-07:00

Aloha

Ahh, what a wonderful week. Yet it is nice to have a P-day again.

So, our week was full of conferences and temple, and yeah. There didn't seem to be a lot of time for just missionary work. Figure, Tuesday we went to the temple, Wednesday and Thursday were normal, but then Friday we had zone conference, and then General Conference on Saturday and Sunday. Our zone leaders have zone leader conference on O'ahu today, so they get to sit and listen to talks even more. What fun for them!

The biggest thing right now I guess is that I am getting over a cold. It attacked on Thursday, so most of the time I have had it, I have been able to sit through conferences and not have to push myself too hard. I did unnerve a few elders during general conference though, and had quite a few people in the chapel asking if I was ok. But, I am feeling better, just in time for this week!

Cathy and Pearleen seemed to really enjoy conference. The problem is that they seem to be on a different wave length then most other people on the planet. Cathy has some very interesting concerns, which we are feeling will only be resolved by reading the Book of Mormon (which she is doing). So, we keep praying for her.

We went by a new investigator this last week, who's name is Richard. He is a buddist guy who was raised Christian, but only really went for social reasons. He actually burnt a hole in the gym floor of our church at one time on accident (they have since rebuilt the church). But, we were able to share the message of the restoration with him. When we went back, he admited to us that he read from the Book of Mormon mostly for the informational value in it, but it struck him more than he thought it would. He wanted to take some time to think over it, so we are going to go by and see him this week.

Last night I had an interesting experience. My companion and I tracted into a lady that was house-sitting and we gave her our number since she didn't seem interested. Well, she called us back and we set up an appointment to meet with her. Problem is that she lives in another area, so we did a temporary exchange so that one elder from each area would be there to meet with her. But, it turned out she wasn't interested. It was frustrating as a lot of her beliefs fit in with the church, but she refuses to read the Book of Mormon. At the end of our discussion we asked her to pray to ask if what we shared was true, in hopes the spirit would direct her to read the Book of Mormon. Well, she prayed, she was eager to pray, but she never asked... Hopefully something we said will strike her heart down the road and she will try again, but for right now she is fairly set in her ways. It is just so sad to see people completely closed to the happiness the gospel can bring. In the words of my district leader "she doesn't believe in revelation, prophets, all she believes in is Christ? Well, her religion is pretty much gone." Why can't people accept that our Lord loves more than just the jews? Oh well.

Well, I hope all is doing well. I love you all, and thank you for your continued support! Aloha

Elder Kidd

03/31/09

2009-06-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

Yeah, its a day late. We took our P-day (Tuesday) so that we could go to the temple this morning! It was a wonderful experience there, and it was beautiful as well. The temple is in Kona, which is on the other side of the island. So, we got up at about 3:30 this morning, and then drove between all the volcanoes (not active, but that is all this island is is volcanoes) over to Kona side. Then we drove back (after a quick stop at Costco) and were afraid our weight was destroying the car.

Well, we're all alive, the car is still running, and the recent RM is happy he got to go to the temple again.Work continues here as well. We have had a couple really cool people we have taught, but one couple decided they weren't interested, and another is out of town for about 3 weeks, so we get to postpone some of that. We do have a lesson tonight with a lady that has some potential though.Ikaika (one of our progressing) is still having great spiritual experiences, but had a family emergency this last week, so he was unable to make it to church. He knows he needs to, and hopefully he will soon.We weren't able to meet with Cathy and Pearlina this last week, but they came to church, and are still loving things.

It sounds like Jeremy and Heather had fun in Seattle, except for the Ticket to Ride game. Heather, you have the new record now! I loved Pikes market when I got to go my senior year, and the space needle was fun as well.

Right now we are starting to work with two 9 year-old girls who haven't been baptized. They both want to be, so hopefully we can set dates for them this week, and their families will bring them to church. That seems to be my best success recently.

We are really looking forward to general conference as well. I'm really excited to see who is going to be the next apostle. Everyone in Utah can think of us poor Hawaiians who will be getting up early so that we can see the session start at 6 am (yeah, I know we have no sympathy, but I can try, right?).

Our biggest problem we have right now in one of our wards is that the members do not seem to want to get involved. Any suggestions from those at home? also, may I take this opportunity to encourage all of you to make a little more effort in your own missionary efforts. I don't know the statistics for other places, but about 80% of baptisms in Hawaii are from member referrals... So, figure over 300,000 baptisms last year, cut by 80% is only 60,000. Well, enough preaching from me.

I love you all so much. Continue to put your trust in the Lord. As the rain falls, we see that all things are for our good. The rain here makes it so beautiful, and quite cool actually, so we prefer it. Can we change our lives to enjoy our trials a little? I love you all.

Elder Kidd

03/23/09

2009-06-08T18:16:00.002-07:00

Aloha!
Well, it is interesting that Dad said that me mentioning that I was about 30 miles from a volcanoe made him nervous... since this morning we were only about 1-2 miles from it. We went and saw Kilauea, the active volcanoe in Hawaii. Unfortunately we couldn't see any lava (the only lava is running into the ocean right now, but you can only see it after 5 P.M.) but there is a big ol' hole in the ground.
Things in Hilo are continueing to go well. Elder Aldridge and I are really working hard and are starting to see some of the fruits of our labors. We were able to find some new people to teach this last week. We have a couple progressing investigators that are just struggling to make it over one or two troubles, which mostly includes making it to church. As soon as they can do that, then I believe they will both get baptized.
We had a missionary from one of the wards I am serving in return home last Saturday, and he has become one of our best friends. He wants to go with us whenever he can, and is still super excited about missionary work.
Yesterday I was able to speak in one of our wards along with afore mentioned missionary. I spoke a lot on how members can help in the work by telling others of the joys the gospel brings. At the end, our investigator that is the friend of the less active lady we ran into (The LA lady's name is Pearline, and her friend is Cathy) came up to us and told us that what we had said had moved something inside of her. Well, my companion told me the day before she had said to him and the Elder he was with (exchanges!) that she never thought she would be baptized. Hopefully after yesterday something has changed.
It was good to get pictures of all of my nieces and nephews, but I'll admit it took me a bit to figure out who the kid with all the brown hair was (in the picture with the four strollers at the zoo). I kept wondering if he was another family's kid, until I realized he is Briton. He has changed a lot since I left 8 months ago, but who's counting? : )
I hope you all enjoy the pictures I took, and I once again say thank you to everyone for your support, and I love you all!
Elder Kidd

03/16/09

2009-06-08T18:16:00.001-07:00

Aloha from Hilo
Yep, I've managed to avoid O'ahu for the time being. I am now on Big Island, otherwise known as Hawai'i. So, I've finally gotten to the true Hawaii. I actually live about 30 miles or so from a volcanoe as well. Sweet, huh? I think we are going to go by Big Island Candies today, so we'll see how good they are. Maybe everyone can send me money and I can get presents for everyone!
My area is in Hilo town. Half of the island is called Kona, and the other is Hilo, so I am in Hilo and in Hilo. It has been great so far. The area is a bit bigger than Kapa'a was, and more city like, but I still love it. It is a little more chill here, and the people are wonderful. We actually cover two wards. One is in an area that is a little less fortunate (meaning poorer). There are a lot of apartment buildings, which actually translates to a lot of opportunities to invite people to learn, which has turned into a lot of potential recently. The other area is a bit up the hill, and is a little wealthier. We have some good plans to get the members involved up there.
So, Tuesday was a sad day in Kapa'a. Elder Bagley and I spent the day running around and saying goodbye to all of the people we could. We went to Jack's that evening for a final farewell. It was an emotional parting. Jack, Tylor, Micah (the JW friend), and Dillon (one of Tylor's friends that we actually reactivated) were there. We had a good dinner, and then talked for a few minutes, and sang a song. Then, we had a final prayer which Jack asked me to offer. At the end, Jack, Tylor, Dillon, and myself were all in tears.
Before we left, Jack handed me a small glass ball, which is a buyoue(sp?) for a fish hook and bait that fisherman will leave out in the ocean, anchored to the floor. The ball floats, holding the bait up until something bites the hook. Well, Jack gave me a really small one, smaller than any I had ever seen. He told me that when I met him, that was the size of his spirituality, that it was now like the ones upstairs on the shelf (which are 2-3 times bigger),and that it will be like the ones he has hanging from his back porch (which are 3-4 times bigger than the middle ones). He thanked me, and told me to keep in touch. We said goodbye, and then drove down to Lihue to spend the night at the ZL's pad, sleeping on the floor. Or atleast trying.
I got about 3 hours of sleep, and then we got ready and went to the airport. Three elders flew out early, and I waited by myself for my flight to O'ahu for about 2 hours. I landed in O'ahu, and managed to find the two elders headed out for Kaua'i. So, I filled my replacement in on some current standings, and got on my plane (alone again) to head for Hilo, and that is where I am now.
My new companion's name is Elder Aldridge (he is my sixth companion in six transfers), who lives just east of Hunter. He graduated in 08, and is actually cousins to the Smiths in our ward. He has been out the same amount of time as Elder Bagley and Elder Higley. He was actually Elder Higley's MTC companion. So, things have been a lot of fun out here. We are working hard, being effective, and having fun. We also are remembering times from back in West Valley. We live with two other elders: Elder Aranda (who has been out for almost 18 months, and is really awesome), and Elder Burner (who is a greenie). We live behind the Stake Center out here, in a nice, but old pad. It works great for missionaries though.
We had a really cool experience this last week. One of our wards (Kaumana) hasn't seen a baptisms in over a year. So, we decided we were going to spend time every day trying to find people in that ward. Well, Fridy, we tracted into a lady who used to be active, and was actually sealed to her parents in the Salt Lake temple. Her dad was a bishop at one time, but she went another way, and felt that nature was her new religion. We talked to her for a few minutes, gave her our number, and then continued on our way. Well, we were headed back to our car, slightly downhearted after running into a mean 7th day adventist, when we ran into a cool guy walking up the road. He lives in Seattle, so we gave him a pamphlet and got his information to send to missionaries in Seattle. Well, while we were talking to him, we got a call. When we listened to the message, it was from the lady we ran into. She was thinking, and realized that maybe we were sent from her dad (who has passed). She needed some help with the house, and decided it was time to look at the church again. We helped her on Saturday and talked to her friend (who is a non-member) and they both came to church yesterday. We are going to go see them later this week as well.
So, that is what has been going on in Hilo. It is very rainy out here most of the time. Hilo is actually the wettest city in the US (more than Seattle apparently), so it's going to be fun. Elder Aldridge and I are looking forward to a great transfer. I hope everyone is doing well, and that you are finally getting over your illness dad. Tell Savannah to get better. I love you all!
Elder Kidd

03/09/09

2009-06-08T17:33:00.000-07:00

Aloha, and aloha
As you may have guessed from the subject line (or maybe not) I am being transfered off of Kaua'i. I'll let you know next week where I land. I hope that dad's idea is right, and that I will end up out here in this ward again. I would really enjoy that. I love this ward out here, the people, and the area. I'm starting to feel like dad too, that I go to a ward, get things really moving, and then get transfered. But, whatever help I was able to offer, I am glad I was able to offer that.
Also, I will be getting a new companion. Yep, 6 for 6. I'm batting a perfect 1.000. I'm going to ask the mission president at my next interview if my companions are saying something to him. Do you think I am that hard on them?
This last week has been interesting though. First of all, Sandy got baptized yesterday. Yep, Tuesday night she met with our bishop and decided to get baptized into our ward... the following Sunday... which was yesterday. So, that was a wonderful experience (and I'm really being truthful). It was a bit stressful, and it took a little bit to get her happy with my companion and I so we could go, but it was a wonderful baptism, and I think she is making the right choices.
The thing that really made the baptism interesting happened last Wednesday while I was on exchanges in the other ward. My companion and our district leader went to Jack's house. While they were there, Sandy came, and there ended up being a huge fight. Elder Bagley wrote 8 pages in his journal about it. Crazy, eh? But, Sandy decided to keep on with her baptism, and I think that fight might have been the wake-up call she needed to really get things moving in the right direction.
Jack continues to progress, if a little slower than would be optimal. Hopefully whoever replaces me can really help him. I don't care when it happens, I just hope that Jack sees the need for baptism and can start his life in the right direction. We'll see tonight how he reacts to me being transfered.
Tylor is having a hard time right now. He knows the gospel is true, but is going through that wonderful teenage years of hormones and uncertainty, and all those other wonderful emotional things of the teenage years. I think he will pull through, and hopefully he can help his dad as well.
One other funny story that hopefully will have a happy ending, but I probably will never know... On my exchange with Elder Ioelu, (who happens to live about 3 miles from home in West Valley, and graduated with me from Hunter, but he was a jock so I never knew him...) who is a greenie, we knocked on one door, and the guy that answered seemed really nice. He said he was Christian and the like. We could hear kids in the background, so we introduced eternal families. He kept saying he was Christian, so in attempts to get him thinking, and to see if anyone else around would listen to us, I said "Well, if you don't want to be with your family forever, do you think anyone around here does?" Well, he didn't even register that I had said that, but he pointed out a couple of houses (no one was interested). I just hope he heard what I said and thinks about it and will learn one day. It sounded so harsh as I said it, but it felt right. I want to see this guy in heaven and see what he says.
I hope all is going well with everyone. I'm going to have to find a dentist and immunization place wherever I land. I love you all so much, and avoid crisco ; ) .
Elder Kidd

02/23/09

2009-06-08T17:32:00.000-07:00

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

02/17/09

2009-06-08T17:31:00.000-07:00

Aloha a day late
Yeah, sorry. It's a day late. Since yesterday was President's day, all the libraries were closed, and we weren't able to do our email. So, you get a wonderful Tuesday night (or Wednesday morning) surprise.
I'm afraid I have a bit of a headache at the current moment, so hopefully that won't come across as me being down in this email.
The last week has been an interesting one to say the very least. Lots of events happening, and not all completely good... or maybe will turn out to be good, we will have to see.
To start with our favorite three, Jack, Sandy, and Tylor. It seems that things finally boiled over in the house, and as far as we know, Sandy has moved out, or is in the process. Jack is tired of the drama, and is looking forward to who she can become becoming a member, and knows she needs to move out for that to happen. Sandy, on the other hand, seems to have been lying to us for a few weeks, so apparently we still have quite a bit of work. Tylor stays fantastic and strong. He is a great kid, but a little difficult to get him to focus at times. Were going to try to get him to play basketball with us tonight.
The interesting thing that happened occured on Friday night. We were at a valentines party at the church (guess we are a couple?) and we called to invite Jack. He came, but didn't want to come in. He said he was just going to stop by quickly, and asked me to make him a plate. Well, an hour and a half later, we had taught a little, learned a lot about Sandy, and laughed at some stories he has. He also made me promise him this last week that if he gets baptized after I go home, that I will fly back out to Hawaii to baptize him. That was a really special moment for me, to have him ask me that. He and I have also decided that we are going to write a book about his life. So, when he gets baptized, we can turn it into a religious book. "Jack Caneda, The Fisherman's Greatest Catch". He has some amazing stories, and through conversion on the end and it will be motivational as well.
The most exciting thing this last week was something completely different though. An older couple in our ward have two daughters who are starting to get active in the church again. And those two daughters have three daughters between them who are not baptised. So, we started teaching them this last week. They are really excited, and the moms want them to be baptized. In fact, I don't think there is a question in anyone's head if they will or not. They really liked the lesson, and they are looking forward to more lessons. We are teaching them twice every other week (two live with their dad every other week... bad divorce from the sounds of it), so we won't see them this week, but next week should go really well.
Like dad says, missionary work and teaching school are a lot alike. We see so often how people can reject something that will only help them in their lives, and we can't force it on them. We simply love them and try to do all we can for them. Then, when they do what they need to, it is all the more sweet for you.
Other than that, we continue being missionaries. We have our zone conference tomorrow, so that will be a lot of fun. Plus I am excited to see the new assistant to the president, since he was one of the zone leaders when I got to Kauai. Hehe, I'm going to have way too much fun with him tomorrow. As always, I hope everyone is doing well, I love you all, and thank you for the continued support!
Aloha
Elder Kidd

02/09/09

2009-06-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

Aloha and Happy Valentines
Yes, what a wonderful week to think about those we love. I got an early dose on Saturday when a package arrived for me (thank you Aubree!). I have cookies now, so I guess I will continue working on getting fat out here... Actually, I have been pretty happy that I have been able to maintain my weight pretty well the last few weeks since I got to Kauai.
Anyways, life continues in Kapaa with some interesting experiences. I decided this last week that if Adrian Monk and Jar Jar Binks were to have a child, and that child loved to do yoga, it would be my companion, Elder Bagley. We are getting along well, but we are an interesting pair to say the least. He is from Centerville and doesn't think that he has any family from Koosherum (I've never been able to spell that right), so I doubt he is part of that clan.
Things continue to go with Jack, Sandy, and Tylor. Tylor was sick yesterday and wasn't able to come to church. Unfortunatley Jack took that excuse and went fishing all day. Like it has been said many times before, we can't force him (but how I wish we could). I just wish I could make him see the importance, and how what he is doing is going to do nothing but harm. Guess that is the joy of missionary work.
Sandy seems to progress, but I still get the feeling that she doesn't quite understand some of the teachings of the church. We continue to work with her, and hopefully she will be moving out of the house soon. I think her getting out will be the best for her, for Jack, and for Tylor. There is so much drama in that house so often that you can feel it push the spirit away.
As for Brenda, we actually hadn't seen much of her recently, and found out from her fellowshipper that she was kinda avoiding us. She loves family home evening, but felt church was too.... churchy (umm.... yeah). She did come yesterday, and seemed to enjoy it. It looks like it is going to take some time and work with her. But, thats what we do!
We were actually able to find quite a few people this last week. We ran into a part member/less active family that we started teaching the sons this last week, but the mom (non-member) is actually interested and starting to read the Book of Mormon. We are also starting to work with a couple people from a Thai family. There is a bit of a language barrier, but they seem to accept what we say.
We ran into an interesting lady this last week. I think she is either a less-active member, or excommunicated. She seems like she likes the church, but considers herself an escapee... oh well. She cut open a coconut and let us drink the coconut water inside, which is pretty good. By the end of our conversation with her, we concluded she was a hippy and really strange. We'll see what we can do to help her and maybe bring her back.
So, our big event for the week was a musical fireside we held last night. We had five different musical numbers, and four speakers. It was a really good evening, and we pushed hard for members to come and bring their non-member friends... Lets just say that we need to get our ward used to missionary firesides. We didn't have the greatest turn out, but it went well and those who were there liked it!
I hope you are all doing well and staying warm! I love you all and am so thankful for all your support and love! Stay strong, and remember that the Lord has put us where we need to be and when. We may not know why, but He does. Love you!
Elder Kidd
Mom, could you possibly find me the name of a dentist out here that is covered by the insurance so I can go get my 6 month cleaning? Thank you!

02/09/09

2009-06-08T17:27:00.000-07:00

Aloha Leavitts!
How is my favorite Leavitt family doing? It was wonderful to get all of your letters. I hope you don't mind getting an email as a response. This way you get it sooner!
Hawaii is great, and very warm. I do eat a lot of fish out here, but the thing I eat the most of is.... rice. We eat a lot of rice out here. With almost every meal. It is a staple food (meaning on of the main in the diet). Most people don't eat potatoes at all though. Also spam. The funniest part is that I am actually starting to like spam a bit.
So, I am actually not learning a language out here. I am speaking english. I do have to learn how to pronounce some names though. Like Kuamo'o does not sound like a cow sound. It sounds like coo (like a pigeon cooing) a (like a normal a in a sentance) mo (like, I want some mo'), and then one more o (like the letter name). Crazy huh?
It sounds like you are all having fun, but it is weird to think that you are going to take seminary Sydni. If you go to the high school seminary building for any reason, look for my picture on the big world map. And Kenzie, pick good classes. No more recess for you.
I hope you are all doing well. Thanks for your prayers, your letters, and support. Keep strong, and love the Lord.
Your uncle/brother/weirdo
Elder Kidd

02/02/09

2009-06-08T17:26:00.001-07:00

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

01/26/09

2009-06-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

Aloha and transfers....
Six weeks have gone by since Elder Higley joined my life, and it is transfers again. We found out this morning that....(drumroll please...) I am staying in Kapa'a 1st ward, and he is transfering on the island somewhere. We all pretty much decided that means that he is going to Kekaha (an area they recently closed to move Elders to North Shore area). It is a walking/bike area, so he is rather happy about that. It will be sad to see him go, but I am sure he will do well. Now I am just wondering who in the world I am going to be with.
This last week brought about some interesting events. First of all, Sandy wants to get baptised, and understands the right reasons for it now. The biggest problem is that she is living with Jack, and they aren't about to get married. She has to have been living somewhere else for three weeks prior to her baptism. We hope she is making progress, but there is so much drama in that house, that I will tell you more about later.
I did get to see Brenda at FHE though, and she is doing well. She is reading, has questions, and promised me that she is not avoiding us, but is really busy, which I can believe. She wasn't able to come to church yesterday because she ran into a lady from the church she used to be part of, who wants to leave her husband because of the church. That religion is scarey, and is creating a lot of fun things for us. Brenda is watching out for that lady because she is terrified, so we could understand her not coming. We half hoped she would bring her to church, but I'm sure religion right now is not a fond thing in her mind. But, there is much potenial! Choke potential bra.
But, back to Jack and Sandy and that household since we are working so much with them. Wednesday we actually went over to do some service. Well, everyone was gone or leaving, so we let ourselves inside the house and proceeded to clean all the floors in the front room. They have two dogs that live inside, and are not the cleanest family, but fortunately it is all tile flooring. It still took us a good 2-3 hours though, but it looked great, and Jack is very grateful.
We also managed to get Jack, Sandy, and Rich (Jack's tenant who lives downstairs) to church yesterday. Rich is a fantastic kid and has a girlfriend that he wants to marry. Well, we thought she would come with him as well, but apparently she canceled last minute, which really bummed him out. He had a good talk with our bishop though, and got a priesthood blessing. He has so much potential right now.
Yet the drama continues with Jack and Sandy. Jack's son, Tylor, and Sandy's son, Keahi, don't get along. In fact, Keahi has a bad habit of stealing things from most people in the house, smoking, drugs, etc. and Sandy continues to turn a blind eye. Keahi is the reason that Jack came to church with bloody knuckles one week (they got in an argument, and Jack took out his frustrations on a DVD player...). So, Tylor came home from his mom's house last night and told Jack he needed a break from the house and he was going to live with his mom for a bit. Jack was really sad, but he understood why. He decided to go to an AA meeting, and Sandy started accusing him of things, so he got a bit upset. All we heard at first was that Tylor didn't want to live there anymore, and Jack was upset and said he was going to a meeting, so we rushed over to the house and called the other elders as well. Well, Jack went to the meeting, he was calm, but seriously mad at Sandy. He keeps saying he is trying to be loving like Christ, but Elder Higley and I felt prompted to remind him that Christ cleared the temple. We will see what happens, but hopefully Sandy will be moving out very soon, for both of their sakes. When that happens, I think both will do a lot better.
We did get Jack to finally accept that the Book of Mormon might be true yesterday though. We went over after church to see him, and read with him the story of Ammon. While we were reading, he told us he kept thinking that there was no way Joseph Smith could have made all of this up. He must have translated it. So, serious step forward. It is marvelous how reading the Book of Mormon really does change peoples lives, and their minds.
On a funny note, to commemorate my 6 month mark (and my district leader commemoration his 18 month mark) we both played pyro over Jack's nasty pool last friday. I burned my a tie that Elder York gave me (it really was hideous) and Elder Kaiser burned some pants we found in our pad that were really beat up. I used a lot of WD40, and he used some spray glue stuff. Well, mine was under control and fun, his turned into a fireball almost 10 feet high, and he dropped
the burning pants in the pool (where they continued to burn for a little bit). Then we went inside and watched the family slide show with Jack. The slide show was great! It was so fun to look back and remember and see what pictures made it in. I was just wishing at the end Tyler could have put a picture from Hawaii as the last frame with IZ singing somewhere over the rainbow. Jack really liked it, and noticed a lot of how the gospel has blessed our family. He was also
wondering if he could get the music from it on a cd... Tyler... please?
Thank you everyone for your support, prayers, more prayers, and more support. Remember the line part from Cast Away where we reflect on how we just keep living each day, and see what the tide brings in. Some times there are storms that bring nothing but sticks, logs, and other junk on the shore, but perhaps one day we may find a clam with a pearl inside, or a sail to help us sail through our current trials. The Lord uses what He uses to give us what we need. He knows us and loves us, and does what He can for us, but as Jack and Sandy show, He will not force happiness on us. We must make the effort to grab it and do everything we can for it, and then He will bless us. "Prove me herewith if I will not open up the windows of heaven and poor you out a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it." It isn't just for tithing. He promises us that for every trial we go through. What a great Lord and Father we have.
I love you all. Remember the Lord in all you do, and thank you for all you do.
Elder Kidd

01/19/09

2009-06-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

Aloha
As usual, aloha from beautiful Kauai. I have felt like a pansy lately because I was getting cold. Yeah, it was about 60 when I woke up yesterday, and we were freezing. One member did point out that aside from the blood thining out here, there is no insulation or heaters in houses, so we really feel it. Still, I'm sure I'm not going to get any pity from those that are in 32 or below
weather....
So, I didn't share about an experience that happened to me about two weeks ago, because I was asked to wait. A tourist couple came to the church looking for a time that they could come to church the next day. Luckily Elder Higley and I were eating dinner, so we were there. They asked, we told them, and came out to point them in the direction of the chapel. Well, as they were leaving, they asked Elder Higley where he was from, and then I asked where they were from.
"Utah."
"What part?"
"Salt Lake,"
"What part?"
"West Valley"
"Wow!" (high fives). "Where abouts?"
"Over by valley fair mall"
"Oh, I live out by about 6200 W" (I realize now that was way off, but that is
what I said)
"That's by my school, Hillside Elementary"
"That's where my mom works, Gloria Kidd"
"She's a secretary there! I teach there. I'm Mrs. Jackman" (formerly known as
Ms. Twitchel)
So, we proceded to talk, she wanted a picture, and asked me if i wanted to write a letter, so I wrote a very brief one and stuck it in an envelope with a 4 gb flash drive for my mom. What are the odds?
But, anyway. This last week has been an interesting one. We still haven't been able to meet with brenda recently, but hopefully I will see her tonight. We are actually doing a split tonight so that I can go to FHE and elder higley can teach Sandy. Sandy wants to be baptised, but doesn't see a need to be baptised... or basically, she wants to be a mormon, but doesn't know the church
is true. Hopefully elder higley can fix that tonight.
Our lesson with Jack and Sandy went well, but not so much for Sandy. We spent a lot of time talking about the spirit world and baptisms for the dead, hoping that Sandy would feel the spirit and want to have her daughter baptised. Well, she feels that her daughter was baptised catholic, and doesn't see a need for her to be baptised again... Problem... Jack on the other hand liked what we said, and though he is a little confused with some things right now, promised he would continue to learn and when he knew it was right, he would be baptised. He sees baptism as a big thing, and wants to know he is doing it for the right reason. The really cool thing was Jack's son, tyler, who shared with me a really special dream he had, and started crying after the lesson. He asked for a few minutes alone in the chapel, and when I looked back through the doors, he was praying. He is such a great kid, and has a lot of potential.
Other things went a little slow last week, but we continue to do all that we can for our investigators and members. Last friday we went and taught a less active lady with Keola Alalem (sometimes known as worthington). He is interesting, but is our ward missionary. The lesson went well, but the lady didn't come to church. She was baptised about ten years ago by two elders. One was Elder Cox from Hurricane, Utah. Sound familiar to anyone? Do we know this person? How small a world is it? I don't think they taught extremely well so that she
understood though, and it has made things difficult now.
Today is interesting. I am actually typing from the Allen's because the libraries are closed since it is Human Rights day. We might actually be going up with the family to a little pond where they will go swimming later (we'll relax). We'll see what happens. I hope everyone is doing well. I love you all so much and am thankful for your many prayers. Living the gospel brings so many blessings. Remember Captain Moroni: If all men had, were, and would be like unto Captain Moroni, the very power of Hell would have been shaken forever, and the devil never would have had power over the hearts of children of men. Let us all strive to be like unto Captain Moroni.
Elder Kidd
The beach in that picture I believe is on Kauai mom, but it is not a very good one, especially after the recent storms. It is covered in branches, but there are some better ones. Also, can anyone see if they can find the music for Voicemale's version of How firm a foundation? Thank you! Love you!

01/12/09

2009-06-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

Aloha!!
It has definately been an interesting week. Elder Higley and I are still getting along well, and are starting to make some good strides. The work in our ward is really starting to get rolling, and the members are starting to get excited about it as well. A lot of them are worried about the economy, but I think missionary work helps soothe some of those worries.
Anyways, the big event this last week was zone conference on Wednesday. The spirit was very strong, and I think everyone left more determined to be the best they could. The next day Elder Higley and I spent about 4 hours planning for this week and the rest of our time in Kapaa. We set a lot of goals and commitments. We also really studied for a lesson with Jack and Sandy that we are going to have this next Wednesday. With the death of the daughter, Jack and Sandy are both really wondering what happens after we die, so we are going to have a nice long lesson with them in the chapel to answer that question.
Something really interesting (and fairly scarey) happened yesterday. Elder Higley called Jack to make sure he was coming to church. All Jack said when he picked up the phone was "I'm pao" meaning I'm done. Then he hung up. We didn't know what was going on, but we were nervous to call back. Sandy was in sacrament meeting, but Jack wasn't. She told us that he was working with Micah (the Jehova Witness friend). We were still worried that he didn't want to talk to us anymore, but figured we couldn't do anything while at church but pray. Before sacrament meeting was over, though, I saw Jack walking outside of the chapel. After sacrament finished, Elder Higley and I went to try to find him. Elder HIgley found him sitting in a truck, and told me. I was on my way over when our bishop found me and asked about him. We both started for the truck, and noticed that Sandy was right by it and looked really worried, and Jack looked very serious. When bishop and I got there, I realized that his knuckles were all cut up. Our bishop talked to him, and they went into the bishops office. He later told us that they talked for a long time, bishop gave Jack a blessing, and his whole countinence changed at the end. We called last night, and he was busy, but we are really looking forward to teaching him again on Wednesday, or seeing him tomorrow.
While Jack was in with the bishop, Sandy was talking to Bro. Thronus (who introduced Elder York and I to her so long ago). They talked about baptism, and she really wants to learn more about the church and perhaps be baptised. Elder Higley and I are extremely excited now.
Unfortunately, Elder Higley and I were not able to teach Brenda last week, and she didn't come to church. We haven't been able to get ahold of her, but she should be at FHE tonight, so we can talk to her then. She was still nice towards us last time we called. I am just hoping that something came up and she is still ok. I still have a really good feeling about Brenda.
So, mail has finally been figured out, and it is back on its usual track. I got my package last Thursday (technically it arrived on Wednesday, but I couldn't pick it up until Thursday) and thank you so much! I am guessing that the twinkies are from stacie, and I know the m&ms were from Tiff, but I have no idea where the others were given from. But thank you all! I actually opened it at a members house, and the wife took pictures of me as I opened it. She found it
absolutely hilarious.
Today is going to be a fun day. After we finish doing email, we are on our way to the chapel in a town called Kaleheo, which has a really steep hill. They have set up a water slide there, and we are going to have some fun. I bought some board shorts this morning specifically for it. They have done it before, and said that it was a blast.
I hope everyone is doing well. I look forward to seeing the family DVD when it arrives. Thank you everyone for your prayers and support. I pray for you all, and love you. Keep your faith in the Lord, and miricles happen.
Elder Kidd

01/05/09

2009-06-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

Aloha from no snow....
Sorry, I just had to say that. And now I say HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Now that I got those out of my system, Hawaii is still great. Kauai is still beautiful. It looks a little gloomy outside, but I guess with 70 degree weather, I can't complain.
This last week was an interesting week. Brenda came to our family home evening night on Monday evening, and she is really interesed. We actually were able to have a lesson with her on Saturday, and she really liked what we said. She used to belong to a different church with a false prophet that led the church. He told the congregation at one time that he was God in the flesh... and he threatened (in front of the congregation) to kill Brenda's 15 year old daughter because Brenda wouldn't let him marry her off. So, she ran away, and when her husband wouldn't, they got divorced. Now she is very skeptical about religions, but she loves everything about the church. She said to me yesterday at chruch that she will probably be at church every week. Now we just have to teach her about baptism so that she knows that there are more blessings that can come, and covenants we need to make with our Heavenly Father. She already knows about the Word of Wisdom, tithing, etc. and likes them as well. She shines she is so golden.
Jack and Sandy continue to progress slowly. We were finally able to sit down and have a real lesson with both of them this last tuesday night. They had a lot of questions, but the spirit was present, and they said they would read. Unfortunately they didn't come to church yesterday, but we will continue to work with them and help them out. They are starting to read the book of Mormon, which is fantastic. Jack just needs to go at his own pace, and he will find out for himself. I think he knows deep down inside that he will join, he just wants to know what he is doing before he jumps into the water, which is what I would prefer.
This last week was able to resolve a lot (if not all) of the concerns between myself and my companion. On Wednesday morning, we went out to do some tracting. The morning had had a spirit of contention, so we didn't have the Spirit at all. I tried to let him lead, hoping the spirit would lead him (as I was so irritated I knew it wasn't with me) but apparently he was upset as well. He looked around for a bit and said, "Lets just go back to the car, this isn't going to do any
good." So, we walked back to the car, drove back to the pad, and then had a good heart to heart. I callled him out on some things, he asked me to do some things, and we left with a feeling of love between us (FINALLY!!) and things have been so much better. We are having fun now, and are having success. He is settling down, and isn't trying to catch me on every little thing I do, and I feel like he is listening now to me as well. On my part, I am taking special care to make sure he understands what we are doing at all time, helping him learn, and not laughing at his "Greenie" moments. Ahh, so much happier.
It was nice to get that taken care of so that we could enjoy New Year's Eve. We went down to Lihue to hang with the other elders and to spend the night. Before we went down, we stopped by the post office, and elder Higley had received 7 letters (six from his girlfriend, and one from a cousin) and I got one from Aubree (that had been sent 12 days before), so our mail is completely messed up right now, which would explain why my Christmas package still hasn't arrived...
But that night... we all got together and watched Prince Caspian, and Kung Fu Panda. I was slightely dissapointed we couldn't watch Wall.e, but what you gonna do bra? Then we went outside to watch fireworks. Fireworks on new years eve in Hawaii are insane. They actually have to put a limit of 20,000 fireworks per person. Yes, 20,000. They have all sorts of illegal fireworks that go off the whole night as well, but no one cares. The air is so full of smoke it can
make it difficult to see and breathe. It was amazing, and a lot of fun. After that we went to bed, but put on Home Alone to fall asleep to, which i stayed up and watched the whole thing.
The next day we weren't to do any prosolyting, so we played basketball and hung with the elders for most of the morning. When we went home, elder Higley just feel asleep and rested for a while. At 6 we went to the Allen's home again, ate dinner, and watched a movie with them... or rather elder higley and I started to watch one together, and he left to watch the other one part way through.
So, that is the excitement in Kauai. I hope everyone is doing well. It seems for me I just got out of the rainstorm, and I am using the sun I have now to grow all that I can. As for the weather, it looks like another storm just rolled in. I hope everyone is safe with the snow (or whatever weather may be like where you are). I love you all. Remember the Lord watches over us all,
and will not let us face more than we are able. The Second Coming is near, let us be prepared for it.
Elder Kidd

12/29/2008

2009-05-28T16:58:00.000-07:00

Aloha
It seems strange to be writing when I just got to call home last Thursday, but it is great as always to be able to communicate with everyone, and I know not everyone was able to be present when I called home.
Life in Kauai continues on. The work right around Christmas was a little slower with so many people having families come, finishing up Christmas stuff, etc. We continue to work with our investigators and try to do anything we can to help them.
Jack is still progressing along, but is taking things at his own pace. Last week we started to bring up some points about the Plan of Salvation that he is having troubles with. He has asked us to work with him at his own pace with things, which we are happy to do. The greatest part is that most of the time he finds answers to his questions on his own. Right now I am just hoping we can
encourage him to read the Book of Mormon as much as he reads the bible. He is having a hard time fully accepting it, and doesn't seem to realize that reading it will allow him to gain a testimony in it, but we are working with him. He did make one big leap yesterday though. He has been reading a more modern translation of the bible (meaning it uses the more common words of today) but realized last night that some things have been changed or altered (such as
"bodies Celestial" says "heavenly bodies") and has decided to read the King James version now. Hurray!!
We also spent a lot of time with Jack on Christmas Eve. We went over in the morning, and then went back for a get-together they were having in honor of Sandy's daughter (the one who commited suicide). We sang a song (where can I turn for peace) while we were there, and everyone was touched by it. I don't think all the other people there will run to join the church, but I think they understand more that we are human, and that we are doing this because we love people.
Christmas day was wonderful. We spent almost the entire day with a cool member family in our ward, the Allens. They have a beautiful riverside lot that their house is on, so I was able to make my call home from their balcony while staring out at the river and the palm trees swaying in the breeze with the sun shinning on them. It has been weird not having a change in seasons, but I must admit I was not missing the blizzard I heard about back home. It was really nice to be
able to talk to those that were there (sorry for those that weren't able to make it). I am thinking that for mother's day, I want to spend more time with personal conversations, and less speaker phone. It just seemed a little sporatic at times, but it really was wonderful to talk to and hear everyone's voices. Apparently I sound a lot like Tyler now, but also talk a lot like the people out here.
On Christmas we also went for a really nice bike ride down a nice path by the beach. We rode this path on Thanksgiving as well, but this time we went a bit further than we did the last time. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful bike ride. I was able to talk to brother allen for a bit of the ride as well, which was nice. He gave me some advice for how to work better with Elder Higley, and I'm trying to impliment it.
The rest of the week continued on, and we continued to work. We had a lesson with Ty on Saturday and reschedualed her baptism for January 23. She knows what she needs to do, so we just need to encourage her to do it. She is still having a bit of a hard time, but she still likes the lessons and she knows it is true.
With church starting at 1 next year, she should be able to come and continue to progress towards the 23rd. Church on Sunday was packed. We figure it was just because of all of the visitors for Christmas, but whatever the reason, there were more people in the chapel than I would have ever imagined. Three people we were really excited about were Jack, Sandy, and a lady named Brenda. Brenda is dating a member of our ward who divorced his wife a couple of years ago. He divorced her because she is completely loony. He actually tried to stay with her for 4 years of her being crazy before he couldn't take it anymore. Well, Aunty Milie (the crazy one) doesn't like Brenda and makes her life.... interesting. Brenda is good friends with a lady in our ward (Sis Walker) who invited her to come last week.
Well, Sis Walker was in Honolulu yesterday, and Brenda was still at church. I was so surprised and happy. She is very interested in the gospel, likes everything she has heard so far, and really wants to take the discussions. Golden!
So, things continue to go well in Kauai. Elder Higley and I are having a few issues, but we will work them out. I guess I am a little to much like my father in a "rebellious to get things done" sense. I want to be obedient, but if I feel doing something out of the ordinary, or even slightly against the rules is going to be benefitial, I do it. Hopefully that won't drive my mission president completely crazy. I'll admit I don't feel quite qualified to be training, but there must be a reason that I am.
I also want to tell Aunt Carol that I am really sorry that I forgot to call you and tell you when I got my call. I'm afraid I thought you got an email from my parents and I didn't think about it. I'm so sorry.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support (especially Grandma Wickham). I am doing the best I can to be the best missionary I can be. The church is true, and the spirit guides and directs us. The Lord loves us, and helps us through whatever trials we have in our life. I love you all.
Elder Kidd

12/23/2008

2009-05-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

Aloha from Lihue
Well, today I am actually down in the biggest town on the island, and their library is much nicer. It has about twice as many computers, and they are a lot faster. I realized I will never be able to use anything less than broadband again because I am too impatient. Oh well...
My new companion's name is Elder Higley. He is from Preston, Idaho, and is very eager to work. In fact, almost a little too much. He did a lot of work with the missionaries from home, and seems to feel extremely qualified. He does good work, but it has been an interesting couple of days trying to get him better acquainted with Hawaii. We are working hard, and staying busy, but he feels like we are just shooting the breeze with the members and they will hate it. Well,
at least on Kauai, members like you to come by, talk story, and show your love for them. Then they feel comfortable telling you who their friends are. Gotta love the Aloha spirit.
But things really are starting to come along. The first day was rocky, but it has settled out quite a bit since then, and we don't seem to be having too many problems right now. I have realized that he fits in with the general sterotype for greenies. I love him, and don't want to crush his spirit though, so I have been doing things as gently and lovingly as I possibly can.
I must admit, I have been really stressed the last couple of days, and I know the Lord has been giving me strength. The baptism went well on Friday for the most part. The spirit was definately present (though I had to take time and relax to feel it). Jack was able to come, and he definatley felt the spirit. The problems came from the fact that our ward mission leader didn't do anything except show up and conduct, which left me to find speakers, type up a program,
clean and fill up the font, etc. I'm afraid I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and the font didn't get started soon enough, so we stalled for a while. Francis had knee replacement surgery recently, which made the actual baptising lots of fun. Lets just say I was joking with him afterwards that he waited so long we had to do it four times to make sure he was
good.... Or rather four because his feet kept coming up and the font was still a little low...
But, it went well, and we are so happy for Francis. Saturday night was the ward Christmas party, which was a blast. We had prime rib, and it was amazing. Then came my solo at the end. I felt it could have been better, but I usually do. It did go very well, and I brought tears to the activities chairwoman who arranged everything. She actually called me shortly before I started this email to thank me again. Overall, it was a good night.
It is weird to think of Christmas already. While listening to the Christmas CDs my mom sent me, the song, "It's beginning to Look a lot like Christmas" came on, and I could only shake my head and say that it isn't at all. It is still in the 70's outside... like it has been forever. I am definatley looking forward to Christmas though, and calling home. I should be calling home shortly after 10
A.M. utah time (as we are going to our members house around 7 here) but we may talk to them for a bit before we call home.
So, life continues on Hawaii. I promise I am not getting a big-head training. One of the Elders I came out with is training his second greenie this transfer, and another from our district is training as well. We have a really young mission right now, but I am sure the Lord has prepared us. I pray every day for guidance, especially with this new responsibility. The gospel is true, and I know the Lord is helping me. Elder Higley is going to be a fantastic missionary. I just hope that he learns to "takit eazy, bra" soon. I love you all. Thank you for your continued support and prayers.
Elder Kidd

12/15/2008

2009-05-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

I'm a father!
Well, at least in missionary terms. I don't know how it was for others that have served, but out in Hawaii we call our missionaries we train our boys, and then we become fathers... So, I will be a father on Wednesday as I am training next transfer. Unfortunately Elder York is leaving though. I have really gotten along with him. Hopefully I will get a good trainie though. I seem to go through a lot of companions....
Life in Hawaii is really rainy right now. I don't know if it made it to the news at all on the mainland, but there was a lot of flooding in Honolulu, and a lot of rain out here on Kauai as well. And it is raining again right now. Fortunately we got a little bit of a break yesterday so that we could see sunlight and blue sky. That was a nice break. Now we get back to the wet season in Hawaii (otherwise known as winter). You get snow, I get rain. The thing I find hillarious is that Winter is the rainy season, and summer is the monsoon season. Not a whole lot of a break. Through that in with earthquakes, Tsunami's, and the very rare Tornadoes (water spouts really), and part of me wonders how Hawaii still exists. Seems to have gotten the wrong end of the stick when it comes to natural disasters. Guess paradise has to have its downfalls though.
Aside from the rain, things are going really well out here. Francis' baptism is this Friday night, and he is super excited. I am going to baptise him, but he recently had knee replacement surgery, so my companion will probably join me in the font so that we can make it very easy on his knees. It was funny yesterday after his interview, he started yelling "I passed the test!" Francis is so cool.
We weren't able to visit with Micah this last week, but we did have dinner at Jack's. His girlfriend, Sandy, wasn't there though. He told us that she was acting like she didn't like us, and didn't want to be around us. Imagine our surprise then yesterday as we glanced around the chapel and saw them both. The talks were on charity and the relief society, and they both really seemed to like them. Jack was touched, and Sandy looked very happy by the end (something
I haven't seen a whole lot of from her). Maybe this will open up some more opportunities to share with them.
This Saturday we have our ward Christmas party as well. One of our members ratted me out to our activities chair, and now I am singing "O, Holy NIght" for the finale. I will let you know how that goes.
Time keeps going by very quickly out here, and I seem to forget a lot from week to week about what has happened. There was a lot of rain this last week, and that seems to be the most. We have a couple of referals we are trying to meet with, so there is definately a lot of potential right now. Lets hope my new companion comes with an eager attitude so that we may work hard, be obedient, and be guided by the Lord.
The second coming is close. The signs are starting to appear, and if it was at the doorstep during the pioneer times, I think the door is about to be knocked on right now. Keep strong. An analogy I thought of during the rain: Without rain, there is no water, and without water there is no life. We need that water to grow, and we are able to gain the experience we need to grow during those times of rain. Yet, the Lord will never flood us out. He lets the sun come out
so that we may shoot upward, growing more and more. But it must rain again. It is the cycle that seems so hard at times, but really is divinely designed for our benefit and growth. The Lord loves us all, and He is always there. Thank you all for your prayers, support, and love. I love you all.
Aloha,
Elder Kidd

12/09/2008

2009-05-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

Aloha all
Sorry my email is a day late. We had so many changes in schedule yesterday that all of our time to email got taken up, or covered up, so we are hear doing it on Tuesday during our lunch hour. You do what you have to though.
We actually spent a good deal of time yesterday with one of our investigators (Jack) who we are mostly trying to fellowship, and his good friend Micah, who is a Jehova's Witness. They went spear fishing, and we stayed on the rocks by the beach with a couple big poles. We had one fish on, but he broke the line, so we lost him.
We had a really cool evening with Micah and Jack last week. We went to Micah's house and had a good discussion with Jack, trying to help him through a hard time in his life. Micah is a really good guy, and really knows his bible. I'm hoping that some time we could teach him as well. He likes us, had some interesting ideas about the word of wisdom (he thought we couldn't have
chocolate), but I think that if we could teach him, and he really listened, that he could feel the spirit and become a member.
This last week had a few interesting experiences. Ty got back from Honolulu with her mother, and her mother is doing better now. She isn't perfect, but doing better. We have another lesson with Ty tomorrow, and hopefully we will be able to reschedual her baptisimal date.
Francis continues to grow at an amazing rate. He got up and bore his testimony on Sunday, and inspired a lot of people in the congregation.
We had a really cool District meeting last Wednesday. We went and climbed up a mountain that looks over Elder York and my area. It is beautiful. I'm sure dad wouldn't like it, but we all enjoyed it.
It is interesting to see how much this last conference seemed to be focused on endurance, and how we can receive help from the other side of the veil. I am sure the general authorities knew hard times were coming, from Prop. 8 and everything else in the world. We recently got our copy, and I have been reading it. I can't see how anyone could hear or read those and not know that these are inspired men of God.
Oh, just for clarification, an Emu turkey is the polynesian way of cooking when you did a big hole, burn a lot of wood to heat up rocks, throw in your meat (or whatever you are cooking), and put some vegitation on top for flavor, and cover it up.
I love you all. Thank you for your support and love. Remember that all true knowledge comes from the Lord. I love you all.
Elder Kidd

12/01/2008

2009-05-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

Aloha in December
So, how many people were involved in the Black Friday madness that causes so much grief each year? I heard a Wal-Mart employee in New York got killed... but I think everyone already knows my take on that day.
This last week was a really fun week. Tuesday we had a lesson with Francis, and we gave him some dates to choose from for his baptism. He called us the next morning and said that he wants to be baptised on the 20th of December. What a cool Christmas present for his sister. This is going to be an interesting Holiday season for him because he used to be budist. He is really coming along, and loves everything about the church.
Wednesday was our Zone conference, which was centered around Christmas. There weren't very many trainings or talks, but a lot about Christmas. We had a bit called "Music, and the Spoken Word" where a few of us performed some musical numbers, and some shared some experiences from home. Then we got to watch "A Christmas Carol" (not a muppet Christmas carol though) and talk about some of the deeper meanings. It was a lot of fun.
Thanksgiving this year was crazy. We started out by helping at an "Interfaith community Thanksgiving dinner" which was held at an episcipal church down the road. There was a service before hand, which was really interesting. Then we went and ate a small thanksgiving meal, and headed to the kitchen to wash dishes. When we got there, there were two volunteers already washing dishes, so my companion and I got the drying job... That went on for a little until we
realized how ineffecient they were being, and as Elder York and myself both have resturant/dishwashing experience, we took over and things started going a lot faster. I think I hurt my shoulder scrubbing some of the pans, but it got better. We impressed a few people there from other religions, but no one seemed interested. We left simply thinking that it was a good service opportunity, and maybe someone will remember us if we knock on their door.
After that we went to the Allen's house. They had an emu turkey (I don't know if I spelled that right, but this is when they cook it in the ground), so I guess my thanksgiving dinner was traditional with an island twist. It was really good, but slightly dry. Guess you can't have everything. Since we weren't supposed to prosolyte(sp?), we spent the rest of the day with the
Allens, talking story and the like. Brother Allen has an interesting idea. He thinks that when we get to heaven, the white stone talked about in the scriptures is going to be something like a PDA or cell phone. He is a really deep thinker, and has some good arguments for that idea.
Anyway, just a little before sunset, we went on a bike ride with Brother Allen, and his father down the cement path along the beach. It was beautiful, and it was nice to ride a bike again. We got back to the house, talked for a bit more until bro Allen fell asleep on the couch. When he woke up, he kicked us out (nicely) and sent his entire family to bed (or so we assume, we had left by then).
Friday night we went to Auntie Bev's house. Auntie Bev is a really cool lady in our ward. She teaches hula and ukelele, and used to perform at Cocao Palms. Apparently she knew Elvis as well. Well, we went to the house she grew up in because she had just renovated it and was going to rent it out. She had a High Priest from Lihue come and give a blessing on the house, and then we ate and had a bit of a music concert. It was a lot of fun, though slightly awkward when
everyone else there was married but the missionaries. They would slip on comments every once-in-a-while. But they are all sweet people.
Last night we had a cool experience. We had just finished dinner, and were trying to think of who we could go see. We have one lady in our ward who is a little less active, but she lives on a farm, takes care of a bed-riden man, and has a lot of other things going on as well. She loves the missionaries, and would do just about anything for us. I thought we should go by, but my
companion was a little nervous because it was getting late. We eventually did go, and it was good we did. Sister Nishek had been going through some hard times (her life is an emotional roller coaster) and had been missing us. She was so happy when we came by. The man she takes care of is not doing well, and she is pretty sure he isn't going to make it much longer. That and a couple other things, and she was nearly distraught. She was grateful we came by, and I think was doing a lot better when we left.
Kauai is beautiful. It is weird to be seeing Christmas lights with it still being this warm and green though. Guess thats what I get for being in the tropics. If what President Petersen said at my interview with him after Zone conference holds true, I will be out here for a little while, which I would love. There is a lot of work to be done, but I am happy that I can do it. The Lord is helping my companion and me along in our work. Without Him, nothing would happen. I hope everyone is doing well. Thank you for your support, love, and prayers. I love you all.
Aloha
Elder Kidd

11/24/2008

2009-05-28T16:29:00.000-07:00

Aloha with Thanksgiving...
I'm running out of clever subject lines... if any of them ever were clever to begin with.
Life in Hawaii, or more specifically on Kaua'i continues. We just went through a tropical storm this last weekend, which brought a lot of rain, and little bit of a damper to spirits. Hard to do work when you can't see the road, or the roads are flooded, but we do our best! It seems to have cleared up a little, but I was told to get used to rain during the winters.
This last week has brought a few updates to our missionary work. We didn't find any new investigators last week, but we may have potential with one of the referals one of our families gave us. The exciting news comes from another of our investigators, whose name is Francis. He is the brother of a member in our ward. She converted about five years ago, and is very active. He started coming to the Family Home Evening one family holds in our ward, and became
interested. We were able to teach him the restoration last on Friday, and he told us on Sunday he wants to be baptised. Since he has come to church twice, we could baptise him as soon as next week. How exciting is that?
We have also spent a bit of time with Jack and his son Tyler. Jack has definately felt the spirit, and is drawing nearer to the Lord. Right now we are just trying to help him with his relationship with the Lord, and throw in a few important gospel principals at the same time. He is a really cool guy, but we don't want to force him into anything. He has amazing stories though, and is
making great progress.
Today has been an interesting day so far. We woke up planning on having only a short P-day because of thanksgiving. We were also going to try to go fishing with Jack during that time as well. Well, Jack canceled, and we had to go into town (Lihue) to get new tires for our car. While we were getting the tires our Zone Leaders called and told us because the zone did so well teaching last week, we were being rewarded with a full p-day. I don't know how to respond to the idea of being rewarded for what we are supposed to do, but we will enjoy our day
regardless, especially since we lost a lot of time this morning with the tires.
On the way back we stopped by Wailua falls, a cool waterfall more inland. With the recent storm, there was a lot of water, and it was really beautiful. Happy Thanksgiving to all later this week. We have actually been told not to prosolyte (sp?) on Thanksgiving at all, but to spend the day with members that have invited us over. Well, Elder York and I are actually going to volunteer at an (throat clearning noise) "Interfaith Thanksgiving Dinner" Basically we
figure we are going out to do service to be seen of men, but our bishop thought it was a good idea. I do too as I like service, but it seems slightly strange. After that we are going to the Allen's, a really cool and missionary minded family in our ward. Brother Allen owns a mall, and is very wealthy, and loves to have the missionaries over. They have four boys (two are twins) who are
crazy. One plays the trumpet though, so I have played a little for him. I was really rusty. Anyway, we will be over there for a bit, and they have also invited us for Christmas, so I will probably make my call home from there.
All in all, life in Kaua'i is good. We are working hard, but having fun. I like my companion (which is a first in my mission so far), and we get along well. I think we are both a little too sarcastic not too. I hope everyone is doing well. It's great to hear that Ben may be getting a job in Salt Lake, and that you are feeling better mom and dad. I hope the cleansing/renewing process goes well. I also hope the book club continues going well. Bonds that set us free is a great book. I love you all!
Elder Kidd

11/17/2008

2009-05-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

Aloha from rainy Kaua'i
I had to open my big mouth to one of my zone leaders last friday and say that it hadn't rained much since I had gotten to Kaua'i.... and now it has been raining for three days straight. Oh well, I guess it is winter, and Kaua'i needs the rain...
Anyway, last Monday was a lot of fun. We went fishing, and I managed to catch a fish (it almost looked like a really small baracudda(sp?)), and then I was also able to see a sea turtle as it popped above the water for a quick breath. Apparently two others had appeared before that, but I missed them both. Anyway, fishing wasn't very productive, so we are thinking of trying again today.
That night we went to a FHE held at a ward member's house (who is also on the high council) and had a couple of investigators there as well. One was Ty, the cousin of our very effeminent ward missionary. The lesson was all about enduring to the end, and she bore a cool testimony about how her sister was giving her grief over investigating the church, but her mother had told her she was proud of her for doing something she wanted to do. Her mother is a less-active member, and had never before told her that she was proud of her, so Ty was feeling pretty good about the church.
Tuesday was veterans day, which seemed to throw a lot of things off. Ever possible vacation in Hawaii gets taken, so a lot was closed on Tuesday, meaning mail came late, people weren't home, etc. In most missions days without school are good for catching families home... on Kaua'i, days off are good for not catching families home because they are all at the beach. So we went and did
service for a lady in our ward. We cleaned up her yard. When I say yard some might think something small... No, this lady owns more land than either my companion or I know, so we cleaned up her front yard area, cleaned out her gutters, etc. It looked really nice when we left. We were able to have a lesson with Ty, and commited her for baptism and asked her to pray about a date.
Wednesday was another interesting day. Or rather the night was interesting. We had set up another lesson with Sandy (the lady whose daughter committed suicide). When we got there, Sandy's boyfriend Jack (whose house it is) and his son were there. We were going to teach the plan of salvation, but ended up teaching a really long restoration lesson because they had A LOT of questions. We answered them all, and he said it felt right and good. He is going through
some hard times right now, so we are trying to simply fellowship him and help him all we can in hopes of helping him come to church and all those other good mormony things.
Then after that (at about 9:20) the first councilor in the bishoprich (who was with us at the lesson) asked us to go give a blessing with him to his new grandchild. Well, we got permission, drove down to another town about 15 minutes away, gave the blessing, drove home, and got home at about 10:20. Yet we were being completely obedient the entire time.
Thursday was really slow. No one was home, no one wanted to talk to us, etc., so we spent a bit of time trying to organize our area book and write out our ward members by street so they would be easier to find and visit. We are still working on that project, but we were able to do that for a while. Then I left to go on exchanges with one of the Zone leaders the next day.
So Friday I spent the day in Lihue (lee-who-e) with one of the Zone leaders. Our zone is so small that we don't have district leaders. We had a good day, and I got to see quite a bit more of the island because he had to do a baptisimal interview. We taught a cool lesson, visited some ward members, had some delicious salmon for dinner, and then I went back home, where I found out
that Ty had chosen a date for her baptism! Hurray!
Saturday is once again a very bad day to find people in Kaua'i as everyone goes out. We had designed a cool finding activity for out on a path by the beach, but that is when it started raining, so that fell through. We spent most of the day visiting members and teaching them, while it rained, and rained, and rained....
Yesterday it rained even more. We live off of the church, and there are three buildings to the church. There is the chapel, the gym, and then all the classrooms and other rooms. The middle of the last building is an open courtyard. For me it was a little strange to be rained on while I was technically inside the building, but what are you going to do?
Always remember our Lord loves us and does everything he can for us. He strengthens us in our times of need, and even our times of strenght if we are willing to look and learn. We do have troubles and hardships, but as Ty experienced, the Lord is always watching, ready to give us a little boost when we need it. I love you all. Have a good week!
Elder Kidd

11/10/2008

2009-05-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Aloha from Kauai
Yes, I am now on the Western-Most Island. And it is absolutely beautiful. I am checking my email at a library that is about 100 feet from the ocean. If I wasn't on a mission I would probably get a book and go read on the beach. Well, I'll just have to do that on vacation sometime.
Just for clarification, the term "Off island" means off Oahu as Oahu has the most people on it, thus also having the most missionaries, being very rushed, and very city like. Yes they are all island, but apparently Oahu is "the island" maybe because that is where most everything is.
I am in a little town called Kapaa. The island is pronounced ka-why-ie. There are only ten elders on the entire island. It covers a fair amount of area, but everything is more spread out. There is a lot of country, and almost no city at all. There is a costco down the road in another town, along with a wal-mart. Oh, I love it. Finally I am out of the rush of the city. The only problem is that
everyone goes to the beach regularily.... and we can't go : ( But it is pretty to look at : ).
My companion is Elder York. He is from Alpine, so we have two Utah boys again. Some of the first words out of his mouth were that we were going to work hard and have fun. He is obedient but not overly strict. You really can't be too hard-core on this island and get any success. If you are willing to just sit back, relax, and talk to people, they are willing to listen.
The work here is going fairly well. Elder York just got out of a three-some when I got here because his last companion had to go home for back surgery. Thus, there were three elders covering three wards, and this ward got a little neglected. Thus, we have spent a bit of time introducing me to the ward and letting them know that they have two elders devoted to their ward alone. We have also been making a lot of effort to visit the less-active members in our ward as well.
We live in a little apartment connected to our church. It is very nice, and they just bought all new furniture for us. We have either full or queen sized beds, a new dresser, and new desks. I feel very spoiled. We also have a washer and dryer inside of the apartment for our use. It is just the two of us that live there. We also have a car.
One very interesting thing in our ward is the ward missionary. He is a reformed gay, and is still very effeminant (sp?). He is very outgoing and outspoken though, so he gets a lot of people for us to teach. We hadn't been at our pad long before he showed up in his truck to take the old furniture away, so we went with him to drop it off at the dump. On the way back we stopped and got one of his relatives, and had a lesson with her right by the beach. We had a lesson with her the next day at the church, and Keola (the ward missionary) says she is getting baptised next month. Our only concern is if he is forcing her to or not. We want her to want to, so we are just trying to help her know the truth.
The next night we also had a interesting experience with the first councilor in the bishoprich. He said he wanted to go out with us, so we went to his house, and he drove us to a lady's house whose daughter commited suicide not too long ago. She has turned to the Lord at this hard time, and she knows some other people whose kids have committed suicide recently as well (it has been a big problem recently here apparently). We just need to let the spirit teach her that not all religions are the same. We have another lesson with her on wednesday. So, things are great on Kauai. I am hoping to spend a bit of time here. I don't want to pack again. I hope everyone is doing well. I am going shore fishing today at about 12:30 with a recent convert and his non-member brother. It should be a lot of fun. Good luck with the snow, I am thinking of you all with the palm trees, beaches, and seventy degree weather. I love you all, and am so grateful
for your support.
Elder Kidd

11/04/2008

2009-05-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

Hot in Hawaii
Yes, I actually wish that I had snow and cold because it is still STINKING warm here. I went and got a haircut this morning, so my head is feeling much lighter and breezier... You get the idea.
Well, tomorrow (Wednesday) is transfer day, and I am getting transferred. I don't know where to yet. Except that it is off Oahu!! Hurray! I am excited. Most missionaries want to get off island, and I am going to be able to. The other island are supposed to be very beautiful and extremely laid back. Even more, missionaries there are more obedient. Elder Trujillo thinks that missionaries that have trouble being obedient usually are on Oahu so that there
are more people to keep an eye on them. I don't know.
I am actually slightly disappointed. Things are really starting to get going in our ward. We have three investigators with a couple more that seem really interested. We actually had one investigator (the mother of the lady that only speaks spanish) who bore her testimony on Sunday and said that she had asked a former member of this ward who moved to baptise her. She isn't sure when, but she wants to be baptised... So I get transfered. Danget! But I get to go off island!
This last week was a little bit of a let down. We did some good work, but with Halloween, my companion's birthday, and it being so close to the end of transfers, a lot of elders become very lazy. I was able to keep things going for a little bit, but eventually Elder Odulio succumed. I tried to help him, but he said he wasn't feeling very well. Maybe he wasn't. But I tried as hard
as I could.
This transfer is going to be very interesting. Our zone has needed some work with unity and working hard, and thus almost half of our zone is getting transfered. I am the only one going off island though. I will let you know next week where I end up.
Halloween was interesting. At 5 we had to stop procelyting so that trick-or-treating could keep going forward. We went to Wal-Mart first so that Elder Trujillo could buy some stuff he needed, and we actually had three girls invite us to a party. It was kinda disturbing. We politely declined, and then two of us shuddered, while the other two kinda wished that they could go...
Those two go home fairly soon. After that we went to my former pad and hung out with the members that live there for the rest of the night. We played a lot of pool and fooseball. It was really fun.
Well, tomorrow begins a new transfer with a new companion. I am excited and ready to work. I love you all, and know that we are all missionaries our entire lives.
Elder Kidd
P.S. On the pictures, the one of the posters is Elder Mann, who goes home in January. He is a very talented artist, does a poster for each transfer, and spends way too long drawing.