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?
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
08/24/09
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
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
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
08/17/09
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
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
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
08/10/09
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
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
Monday, August 3, 2009
08/03/09
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
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
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
07/27/09
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
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
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
07/20/09
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
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
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