"Average is the enemy of Excellence!"

     Hello everyone!! I hope everyone is doing amazing! I had an awesome week! I had the cool experience of singing for Elder Bednar, Elder Oaks, and Elder Nelson today! The spirit has never been stronger for me! 

     But it was hard for me to not be able to spend Fathers Day with my dad for the first time ever. It was hard for me to reflect on this past Father's Day and think of my dad and not be able to see him. A lot of people ask me what my favorite quality of my dad is and my favorite thing I miss. It is and always will be his work ethic. My dad loves to work and is so dedicated. My favorite part about that work ethic is that my dad always gave me a choice of what I wanted to do but he
never let me quit once I made that decision. Every sport I have ever played, when I made the choice to play he would never let me quit. He taught me how to build that work ethic and to never quit. He always showed me that "Average is the enemy of Excellence". My dad always saw something better in me and always saw the great things I could accomplish through hard work. 
     So I would like to share this: There was once a champion swimmer who was asked after a meet about his victory. The reporter asked him, "How did you do it? There were many other swimmers who were equally or more talented than you. How did you do it." He responded by saying, "Work. I woke up every day and did the work needed to become a champion."
     One of the greatest differences between a missionary and  great missionary is work. The greatest part of missionary work is work. I wished for weeks to have a little more free time to be able to relax in the MTC because I was so tired. Then I realized the power in working all day as a missionary. If there is no time to be idle then there is no time to be homesick, there is no time worry, there is no
time to take your heart and your mind from your mission. Every second you do is a time that could be used to receive revelation or spent focusing on your investigators. I am here to try to bring souls unto Christ and help them find the path to Christ. 
     The best use of life is spent on the things that outlast it. If that doesn't define a mission well spent then I do not know what does. God had me preparing for this mission long before I came down to this earth. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time coming even before this life so I must give it my all. But there would be no better feeling to come
home off my mission and hug my dad and tell him that I held nothing back and I gave my all.  There would be no better report. Can you likewise think of any better report that there could be to return home to our Father in Heaven after our life mission and to go up to Him and tell Him that you held nothing back and that you gave it your all and you tried your best. I cannot. He would receive us with open arms with! He would say, "thank you my strong and faithful servant. Welcome home!"  But in order to do this we have to endure to the end. In order to do this we have to Stay by the Tree as Elder Kevin W. Pearson would say. The road is straight and the path is narrow back to our Heavenly Father. We always hear that, but there is only one reason that we always hear that it is a straight and narrow path. The path is Christ. The path is not TO Christ. It IS Christ. He does not wait for us at the end of the road. He walks with us every step of the way and carries us if we cannot stand. 
     In Lehi's vision, the Tree of Life is Christ and the fruit is his infinite Atonement. So "stay by the tree!" The path is straight and narrow, strict and exact. God's commandments are strict but not restrictive. It will be hard. Tribulation is an inevitable and indispensable part of our eternal progression. But please please please when adversity comes, do not let something that you don't know unravel what you do know. So many people go looking for things they do not know and let it ruin what they do know.  Those who mock the Savior are ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.    
     Lastly this is to any returned missionaries. Returned missionaries cannot come home and return to the
people they were before their mission and waste their time away without falling into a deep spiritual sleep. True disciples continue to awaken unto God each day in meaningful personal prayer, earnest scripture study, personal obedience, and selfless service. Once we enter into covenants with God there is no going back. My dad has always taught me that. Just as my dad might say to me, "Giving in, giving up, and giving out are not options." Average Is truly the enemy
of excellence brothers and sisters. An average commitment will prevent you from enduring from the end. Just as in Elder Pearson's talk, my challenge this week to you is "Awaken unto God, cling to truth, keep your sacred temple covenants, and stay by the tree!" 
     I love all of you. Sorry it is so long! I just felt that this was all inspired. I promise that these things are inspired from what I have learned from the MTC. Please heed these things and you will be blessed. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 
Aishiteimasu! 
Elder Aiken.


Sent from my iPad

Singing for the Prophet!

       Hello everyone! How was everyone's week? It has been a fun week. I have a ton to put in.              
     I had a Sister come up to me today and say are you Elder Aiken?  I was confused but said," yes." She said "you are like a celebrity! Everyone tells me you are hilarious and they call you Leonardo Black."  They think I look like Leonardo DiCaprio but act like Jack Black.  Do not really have a response to that one!  Don't know if that is good or bad.   





     It has been the best week here in the MTC! There was a lot of singing this week for sure! I had the amazing opportunity to sing with my district in sacrament meeting and it was so powerful!  Then I have a solo in sacrament next week and my companion just auditioned to have a
solo in front of all of the missionaries for a MTC devotional. But the most amazing part for me is that I got selected out of almost 1500 missionaries to be one of the 40 missionaries to be in the choir who get to sing for the Prophet and all of the Apostles on four different days for the Mission President conference!!  I am so excited and so blessed to be a part of such an amazing experience to get to see all of the Apostles and the Prophet in person and sing for them.  That includes singing for them in their own personal sacrament meeting! I am so nervous but so excited.


     But this week has been powerful in so many more important reasons than that. Investigators have the opportunity if they are BYU students or living in the area to come be taught by MTC missionaries.  My zone is
the pilot group that is able to teach those investigators in English while also teaching others in their mission language. So I taught in 2 languages this week and it was hard, but teaching in English and getting across all that I have learned clearly was such an amazing feeling. I have learned that when we ask God a question of something we need, we cannot say "but Thy will be done" if we are not willing to accept either answer from God.  He is the gardener here.  He knows what he wants us to be. We have to let ourselves be broken down so he can mold us to what we need to be, for me as a missionary, and for everyone in life. We need to pray to Him with real intent,which means being ready to act on an answer we receive. Part of turning to God is committing to doing what He asks of us. When you are obedient you will be empowered on high. Elder Holland has taught us that obedience is the first law of everything. Doing these things takes a large act of faith. I have had to have a ton of faith in my Savior Jesus Christ to be able to get by every day.    
     This is not my work. I am just the vessel that is used to spread His word. I have held on to the idea that faith in Christ is like a candlelight.  We are only given enough light to take a few steps at a time and proceed in faith. Even though we might feel lost in darkness, God has promised to
illuminate the way before us. Little by little He will give us as much as we can handle, but spiritual light rarely comes to those who sit in darkness waiting for someone to flip the switch. It takes an act of faith to open our eyes to the light of Christ. Though some do stay in the darkness. 
     We talked about what guilt was this past week. I have
learned over my teenage years that guilt is so powerful and such a blessing. In my opinion it is a feeling from the Holy Ghost that leads to a course correction if we are not on the right path. It helps recognize our wrong actions. When people get over guilt and no longer feel that guilt, they have not flipped the switch and found the light, they have just adjusted to the dark. They have found a way to live in a life of darkness and see what they want to see. The light they see is not the light of Christ. That is why I think sometimes that when the Light of Christ is presented before them they turn away because the Light is too bright. They are not ready for that Light and they do not want to see it. It comes off as a glare to them and they turn away. 
     My challenge to you for this week is this: Always be searching for the Light of Christ and if you feel guilty do not try too push it down. Use it!! It will help correct our course to Christ. Be exactly obedient. There are only two types of Commandments. ALWAYS commandments and NEVER commandments. We must give our all. Always. 
     I love you so much. Do these things and I promise you will be blessed.  Aishiteimasu!!!! 
Love, Elder Trevor Aiken

Succor those in need!

  

   Hello everyone!!! I love this mission!!!! It is the best place on earth and I could not be anywhere else in my life at this time. 
     We had a funny experience this week where an elder meant to say that he sacrificed two years for the Japanese people, but he accidentally said that he sacrificed 2000 of the Japanese people! Our investigator was so confused!  Pretty funny.
     I had the awesome experience to watch the funeral of Elder Perry last week. It was a sad experience but it was so powerful to hear from all of the apostles speak and President Monson close. I loved how President Monson said that there was no chink in the armor of God on Elder Perry. He was such a powerful man. I loved how he was summed up when he described how Elder Perry served like this, the motto on a British infantryman's duffle bag: "I serve." He made it simple yet powerful. He served his country, his family, and this Church wholeheartedly every single day. It was so powerful to see the love towards Elder Perry. 

     One thing I have learned this week as I have studied and strived to learn the language is that I am learning two languages. "Learning the language of the spirit and prayer is a joyful, lifetime experience." said President Spencer W. Kimball. I also loved what was said by Susan B. Tanner in a devotional this past week. She said that the temple is the Lord's first MTC. It is the first place He prepares us to serve a mission and to serve everyday of our lives. Keeping covenants makes a missionary endowed with power. And how true that is. I cannot wait to go to the temple later today! What a joy it is to go. 

     I loved the difference we learned between being authorized and qualified. We are all authorized when we are set apart as missionaries, but as we obey and hearken to the words of God and Jesus Christ, we are empowered. So powerful that just about over half of the first 80 sections of D&C starts with "hearken". With the call of being a missionary we receive a mantle. The mantle is a like a suit jacket that is too big. As we follow the Savior and work every day we can grow into that jacket but we will never be fully comfortable because the day we are comfortable we will not rely on the Savior every second of every day. We are only really comfortable the day we get released. I am dreading that day already.

     Time for my challenge of the week. I would challenge everyone to succor those in need every time you see a chance. I heard the definition of succor today and I loved it. It means to run to the cry of. If we can truly run to the cry (or succor) those in need are we not true examples of Jesus Christ?! Life will be hard but just remember this counsel: When life is hard and it feels like you are drowning, just remember that your Lifeguard walks on water. Christ is just waiting for us to walk to him everyday. It feels everyday as if I am treading on water. I have to have ultimate faith to keep me afloat. We must strive every day to keep our eyes on Christ and walk out to Him and He will meet us halfway with untold blessings if we do so. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

     I love you all and I pray for you all every night.  Aishiteimasu!!!!

Love,

Elder Aiken

Week 2!

Saying goodbye to good friend Elder Hunter Dall!

    The mission has been amazing so far! I have loved every second. It has been hard but amazing in every way. We have already had Elder Holland, Elder Christofferson, and Janice Kapp Perry speak to us! It has been great to feel that power and strength that they have. It was so powerful to have Elder Christofferson come up and speak to us and talk about how much he sincerely misses Elder Perry. He said how he was like a father to him in many ways. So powerful. 
     I learned a lot this week. We as missionaries truly were saved for the 11th hour of the 7th day to go out and gather Israel. Those are big shoes to fill and every missionary is too inadequate to fill those shoes. But with exact obedience and following the spirit, we gain the power to fill those shoes. It will be hard and will bring me to my knees, but that is the point!! The Lord will stretch us every time we start to feel comfortable because he wants us to always be growing and striving to become like Him. How true it is that I am the current bush and He will cut me down to grow as He wishes. He is the Gardner here. 

     Something Elder Christofferson said keeps me going every time it gets hard. "Quitting is not the answer. Stopping won't make you feel better. You just have to keep working." So I do every day. It is the only way I know I can succeed. In the lifelong race, Jesus Christ is not at the finish line. He is walking with us every step. We just need to keep our eyes on Christ. We stumble when we focus on the judgments of others rather than God's judgment. We have all made mistakes in this life, but if we repent the Lord will forgive us, but we will not forget those mistakes. We will grow from them. The past is a time to learn from, not linger on. Look to the present and to the future. Now is the time to forget yourself and come unto Christ. He needs us now. One of the biggest temptations is procrastination. Do not wait another second to come unto Christ. He has great things in store for you if you just come unto Him. When it gets hard and you feel like Satan is working on you like never before, just remember that that means Satan knows that you are about to do something great around the corner. 

     I love you all so much. I would not be able to be here on my mission and have a testimony of these things if it was not for the support from all of you - I know that's guiding me.  Until next week, God be with you all. My challenge to you this week as life gets hard is to never quit and never look down. Christ is the horizon. He is the answer just around the corner. Make him your Center. 

Love you all!! 
Elder Trevor Aiken