Aloha from the Islands

Family!

This has been an interesting week. Yesterday me and Elder Lewis were talking about it and we feel like on paper not a lot happened but in actuality a lot happened. Probably the highlight was another lesson with Daniel. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he enjoyed it and participated quite a bit in the lesson. In the end he whipped out his guitar and started playing, and when he found out that Elder Lewis could play too he got out a broken guitar and gave it to him to repair so they could jam. Elder Lewis was able to fix it within 10 minutes and we now plan on rocking with Daniel at our next meeting. After teaching him of course :P. He was busy this Sunday but he has expressed interest in coming to sacrament meeting so fingers crossed and arms folded for that.

Another family is Leslie and her children Arynn and John. Arynn is a member baptized by missionaries some years ago but he went less active due to being the only member in the family and the ward not doing the best at the follow up for one reason or another. Arynn's mother Leslie has expressed interest in going to the church and has told us that she wants John (her 10 year old son) to be baptized. I think they are golden but they fit into the very large category of people who are unable to meet with us because they work a dozen jobs and all the kids do sports. That's Honolulu for ya.

On the cool side I just found out that a YSA in the ward named Tafe just put in his mission papers. He's on the older side and made a handful of mistakes but he really turned his life around and is one of my favorite people in the ward. Just boosts my testimony that the Atonement of Christ is more powerful and far reaching than anything the world may have to offer and that nobody is too far gone. Along the same line I thought about the last couple months and how much I've changed. I mean I'm still me but it hit me a couple days ago after I walked up to a mostly homeless man on the street tattooed from head to toe, asked him about his day, talked about his family, and offered to say a prayer with him. We went our separate ways and I realized that 9 months ago I never would have done something like that. This mission really is a blessing in every way, its great for the people you meet but it is giving me a better understanding of life. I love serving and I love the people of these islands, even the ones that look like they want to stab us.

Quick reminder to read the BofM everyday and to never stop praying.

Love you all, keep the faith.

Elder Smith

PS - That's crazy that Carson is going to the Marshalls, there's tons of Micronesian immigrants in Honolulu so I've met a handful of people from the Marshall Islands. He's gonna love serving Jisus Kraist out there. Probably will never use the language again but hey it'll be a good skill to have, right?