Terrible Cold and 20 Years Old

Howzit?

Well I think the title to my email just about sums up the week. I was starting to feel a little down in the dumps last Sunday but by Monday I was fine and we were able to do some visits with the youth. Then on Tuesday I went with Elder Hayes to the doctor's office in Kahuku so he could get his prescription refilled and on the way back I started to feel like crap (so everyone at the pharmacy thought we were there for me cuz I looked like a zombie but it was for Hayes and he looked fine). Anyway I felt like crap so I wasn't able to work for 2 days, I finally felt good around Thanksgiving but we weren't suppose to proselyte that day, instead we went to the ward's turkey bowl, then hung out with the Wahiawa elders (who had a turkey that was cooked in an Imu, sooo good), went to a lunch/dinner with the King family (she's Tongan, he's Paulagi, they have 10 kids) so of course we were fed beyond the natural capacity of a human being. Kaike Mate. After that we went to another dinner at the Nakasones and they fed us a lot more. We were down by the end of it.

After we recovered from our food coma we played risk with the ZLs and called it a night. I was better for the rest of the week and we were actually able to get work done, not a lot of progress because just about everyone was recovering from Thanksgiving but we were able to have another meeting with Ikaika and he is so pumped to be baptized, we just need to get his extended family here. Last night we met with a returning family named the Wedgesen's and it was so cool, they had a huge testimony of the priesthood and an awesome story about how it has blessed them. They asked for blessings and a blessing on the house so me and Hayes gave a couple blessings each. Buuut that was basically the week, and yeah and I turned 20 so that was weird, guess I have to start acting like an adult now. We'll see. Hope you all have a great week and that you are ready to #lighttheworld

Aloha!
Elder Smith

1. Me
2. Elder Hayes
3. Ikaika
4. Gangster Cat

The Dynamic Duo

Aloha!

So we had an interesting week. The front half of it was mostly focused on getting Elder Bird ready to go. Before he left for Kona we had another meeting with the Davis family (less actives who want to get back to church) and we had a really solid experience teaching them the restoration. Bishop Goo was there as well and he asked the parents to share their testimonies with their kids. It was a really cool experience and the spirit was really strong and in the end we committed their daughter Kiana to be baptized. She said yes but won't be able to do it until January, all in all it was a great lesson.

After sending off Bird we had a lesson with a potential investigator named Kanoe who had a lot of good questions about our beliefs. The only problem was her 80 year old judge Judy obsessed auntie was there and started asking us all the dumb questions like how many wives did Joseph Smith have (idk, more than one) why don't we believe in the Bible (we do) and why don't we believe in birth control (we do). Anywho we have a return appointment so we will see how that goes. All in all it was a winning situation because I got Poke and Tako out of it.

Next we had a doorstep lesson with a referral named Georgi and her mom Billie-Jo. They had a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon and were totally accepting of a lot of what we had to say. They were super nice and we will hopefully be able to meet with them again soon. But yeah that's our week, some ups and some downs as usual but we are pushing through. It's weird only having one companion, gets a little quiet sometimes and we always feel like we forgot something. its an adjustment. Buuut anyway hope everyone has a great week. Love you all and happy Thanksgiving!

Aloha!
Elder Smith

This Trio's Down to Two

Aloha!

It's been an interesting week here in the Waipiolani ward, we had a bit of a hard time meeting with our investigators but we were able to get Ikaika to church which was a plus. The youth did a great job of fellowshipping him and making sure he feels welcome. That is definitely one of the strong suits of this ward, they are very loving and welcoming whenever we bring people to church. Our Ghanaian investigator Francis came to a fireside about the atonement and he really liked it. The main thing with him at this point is getting him to act on what we talk about. I know that once he realizes what the spirit is telling him he will start committing himself.

In other news we did a service project for a man that lived in a legit shack on a farm so that was pretty cool. At the same time there was a lightning storm going on which was even cooler because despite all the Hawaiian rain we actually don't get lightning and thunder all that often.

We have also been trying to get more members involved with the lessons, the young women's president Sister Chun introduced us to some less active members that we are starting to meet with now so I testify to you all that members working with missionaries is the right way to go. Also the youth have been involved with some of these people which is great because it gets them fired up about serving missions themselves.

So in reference to my title we will be losing Elder Bird as a companion this week, he is going to Kona for the last 3 weeks of the transfer. He is a baller missionary and he will be missed, it's gonna be weird just having me and Elder Hayes again but on the up side at least I can focus a little more on training him.

That's all I have to report this week, good luck to all in your sharing of the gospel and have a great week.
Love and Aloha!
Elder Smith

Tongan Style

Aloha and Happy (late) Halloween!

The three of us had a pretty enjoyable week, though some things didn't turn out quite the way we thought it would. First off Halloween was a fun day, after the sun went down the whole zone got together and played games at the YSA chapel. It was very fun to be able to see all of the zone and to spend some time relaxing. But once November began it was back to work. Me and Elder Bird spent a day with Elder Klaassen in our area and we worked our potential lists to the bone. We were so beat by the end of that day but it felt good knowing that we had given it all that we had. Also part way through the day we were really dehydrated so we stopped at a Tongan members house and asked for a glass of water, naturally we had 3 large glasses of water and about two servings of cake and ice cream, gotta love the Polys.

Aside from the exchange we did service for that same family at their farm. We were able to help them lay some carpet at the farm house and got much food in exchange. Also the neighbor Tongans had caught a pig and were preparing to cook it in an underground oven (pronounced Emu, not sure if that's how it's spelled).

We were also able to find a family this week named the Shavers who the missionaries had met with before, they aren't too interested in converting since he is the pastor of another church but they invited us over regardless. Their son-in-law John McCue mentioned that he doesn't go to church because there is too much man-added doctrine in churches these days. We talked about the apostasy and restoration and he agreed to hear more though he is very skeptical about Joseph Smith saying that our focus should be on Christ (ironic since he brought up Joseph more than we did). Should be a fun adventure in the future.

Those are the main things this week, hope life is good for everybody on the mainland and I look forward to hearing about how you are all sharing the gospel.

Much love and aloha
Elder Smith