A change of heart!

This store says "Aiken" in Japanese!

    Hello everyone.  This was a great week!! It is raining every day and it is soooo cold! Yesterday I looked at the weather on my iPad and the humidity was literally at 100%. 

     How was everyone's Thanksgiving?! They don't celebrate that here in Japan. We fasted on Thanksgiving to go and have success in our day with our 4 lessons planned. We started the fast the night before and the spirit was strong and our spirits were high. That day we had all 4 of our lessons get canceled on us. I was disappointed for sure, but I did not get frustrated or let it get to me and ruin the spirit of that day because I have learned a big lesson on my mission that I wish I learned much earlier. Everyone has their agency. When someone wrongs you or does something that is hard to bear, it is not because of something you did and it it not your fault. Also, I took a step back and looked at the blessings of the day and of the fast. My companion and I had never been frustrated with each other that day because of the language barrier. We united in our times of struggle and lifted each other up. A diligent missionary delights in the work. That is what I will do in any way I can, until the day I get off the plane in Salt Lake City. That is because I have changed so much already on my mission with millions of miles still to grow. 

   But I did not change through obedience and doing God's will and giving one 100 percent. Yes those things are needed, but we can do the Lord's will everyday, but if inwardly it is not our own then we will not change. That is the promise from the Father. Lawrence E. Corbridge said, "This process of change, this process of evolving, becoming, is the object of the gospel. Change is the design of faith in Christ, repentance and baptism. Redemptive change happens by the power of the Holy Ghost. But it happens only if and when your heart is right. It happens only if you do not fight against God. It happens only if you unconditionally surrender your will to the Lord." This gospel is steadfast and unchanging, but its sole purpose is change. It is for us to change! To become like our Father in Heaven, but that is an inward effort of truly changing our hearts to line with the Father. 3 Nephi 13:21: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

     Take a step back and truly think and ask yourself. Are your actions and commitments to the Lord, really to the Lord? When we are being obedient or doing his will, are we still inwardly wanting to do our will? Are we going to church, reading the scriptures, and praying, but doing it as routine or because of what others will think if we don't? It has to be from our heart! Our desire to change! Brother Corbridge continues, "You may permit the Lord to change your nature if you give yourself to Him and to His work. He cannot work on what He does not have, and He cannot have you, unless you give yourself to Him." 

     Too often we say that is my "nature." I cannot change.  This gospel is the testimony of change. It is the divine witness that through our Savior Jesus Christ, we can become like Him. I plead that we will do so. Gain the desire to do so and do so. Pray in our closets rather than street corners, as the Savior asked. Do not follow God's commandments because of what others will think. Follow God because of what God thinks! He loves us and we are his children. Our savior loves us perfectly! Come unto Him with full purpose of heart and be purified even as He is pure. I am changing because I have gained the desire to, because I am weak and sin and make mistakes, but I strive every day to set my heart on the treasures of Heaven. Please pray every day with me to be filled with the Savior's love and go do His will because we want to. Do not sit on the fence. Satan has, and always will own the fence. 

     I love all of you! I pray that in this Christmas season we can seek change and may obtain the desire to become like our Savior. I love you all so much! Keep your feet on the path, your hands on the rod, and keep your eyes on Christ.

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken

Happy Thanksgiving!

     Today was transfer calls!!! I have big news!! I am going where the Lord needs me to go and that is... nowhere! I am staying! Pfew, that was stressful. I am so happy! I am not ready to leave this place. It has become my home. This is the place I hit my 6th month mark in last week. It is all I know. But I am just loving our investigators and these members. So good. 

     Anyway, I learned a lot this week! The first probably being, do not try to take directions from sister missionaries sometimes. Because sometimes they say go right and then right, but they meant go left and then left. The second thing, and probably the most important, is that I learned that a lot of basketball players go to Europe to play ball. No... I go to Asia to play ball. I am a highly sought after player in these parts. Sure, am I the tallest on the court most times? Sure. Have I turned into the Mehmet Okur/Channing Frye of Nagaka hitting threes playing the 5 position? Maybe. Also most importantly, am I one for one for the opening tip off? That also might be true. But that is not important!  

     To the more important things of the work! We are seeing so much success with our investigators. We had to drop our only real progressing investigator last week, because he told us he would never get baptized. It was hard thinking that would leave us without a progressing investigator, but as a part of my testimony I knew that if we spent our time on people who were not ready or prepared at this time, then we will miss people the Lord wants us to focus on who He is preparing. This is not my time here so I have no right to waste it. As we took that act of faith we saw the miracle of getting two new progressing investigators last week which was cool. I am loving every second! I promise you I will not come back the same as I was. I am growing and molding in my Father's hands into the man He wants me to be. It honestly gets harder every single day to picture where I would be if I had not served as I progress in the Lord. This is my life and my light. It honestly has to be in these days. I do not know a lot of what is happening back home other than when I read Helaman and 3rd Nephi I feel as if I am reading the daily news in some senses. The secret combinations and evil of the world is spreading and these days are getting harder and harder and harder. Sometimes I have to look in the mirror and see who I am in this world today. I recall upon the first half of Jacob 5:66: For it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard; wherefore ye shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow, that the root and the top may be equal in strength, until the good shall overcome the bad, and the bad be hewn down and cast into the fire, that they cumber not the ground of my vineyard; and thus will I sweep away the bad out of my vineyard.

     The bad will be cleared away according to the growth of the good. That the roots and the tops may be equal in strength, until the good shall overcome the bad. Now there are dozens of thoughts I had about what the roots and the tops could represent for us, but this one that stuck with me. I compared it with the wheat and the tares and thought about how the Lord says in D&C 86 that the blade is yet tender so he cannot separate the wheat from the tares. Maybe our roots are strong, but if the blade is tender or our tops are weak, or in other words, if our actions, our appearance, our words, and our behavior do not represent our roots and separate us from the tares or the branches bearing bad fruit, how are we representing the Lord? How are we really different? We have heard it a million times! But I will say it again. Are we Sunday Mormons? Are we really treating the Sacrament as a continuous event that is supposed to shape and guide all of our life's actions throughout the week, rather than the 3 hour block on Sundays? Do we get home from church and get out of our Sunday clothes and do things that lose the sacred atmosphere of the that holy day. Do people see us as different? I hope we can separate ourselves from the world more than we are now. That is the number one blessing I receive as a missionary is that I get to be separated from the world. 

     I took a step back the other day and I realized I have never heard a swear word since I have been in Japan. Do you know how amazing that truly is? I could not say that for a day throughout all of middle school and high school. We need to separate ourselves from the world so that when the Lord comes to view his vineyard, He sees branches bearing good fruit, or He sees the wheat growing from the tares. Will He see you? I know He always sees us and our good works, but can we say that He will he truly see us as in the world but not of it? Will we stand as ensign to the world and separate ourselves? I pray that we can do so.

     Keep your feet on the path, your hands on the rod, and keep your eyes on Christ. I love you all so much! Here goes my second 6 months! Happy Thanksgiving and have the best week ever!

Love,

Elder Aiken

Doubt not your witness!

A fun hike on P-day!

     How is everyone doing? I am loving it down here in Japan! We had some way cool experiences down here but I will just share one! 

     We got to meet with this man Bereket from Ethiopia! He is 25 and he is so cool! My companion does not speak English so I had to teach basically by myself. I taught the whole first lesson and gave him the Jesus Christ's Restored Gospel pamphlet and a Book of Mormon. There were two miracles that stemmed from this experience. He told me after the lesson that he liked everything I said and that he wants to find out for himself if this is the truth he has been searching for and if the Book of Mormon supports the Bible then it is ok. I told him that it did. He told me that he would read the pamphlet and pray as soon as he could, but that English was his second language so the Book of Mormon would be too hard to really understand on his own so he said he could not read it. We left and I just wanted to be able to have him see the word in his own language. He told me that in Ethiopia there is 18 used languages! His first language is Amahari and it is used by 55% of the population. I knew the Church was in Ethiopia but thinking that there were 18 languages used there I did not know if we would have a Book of Mormon in that language. I called the mission home office and asked if they could look for me. I called again the next day and they told me that they had found only 1! They are shipping to my area this week!! That was such a miracle to me to see one book was left for one prepared child of God to receive this work. 

     Although after the lesson I felt such peace and joy with the situation, I continued to psych myself out and be nervous even through the spirits comforting power.  That is the topic of my spiritual message today. 

 

    That was lesson one Saturday, and the next day at church I heard someone speaking quote this scripture, but I could understand little else because it was all Japanese. This was the scripture. D&C 6:23 - Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God? I felt such peace come over me when I read that scripture, but also guilt. I knew I had doubted in the moment I made the call to see if they found a Book of Mormon. I had doubted. Now this was small and some might think that you can doubt a little in the moment or be nervous. Now this is solely my opinion but I think we do not look at a moment just before the Savior performed the first act of the atonement in Gethsemane in this light. The Savior asked the Lord to take it from him. He had a moment of doubt because he was utterly alone, taking on the pains and sins of the world. I do believe that in a way the Savior did this so we do not have to. We do not ever have to doubt in the moment of adversity or hardship. We will never be alone. He will stand with us and walk with us the whole way. We cannot doubt our witnesses. 

     Are you doubting in the moment of adversity? Are you doubting in the simple things like I did? Are you doubting the witness you have already received? For example, serving a mission, or who you should marry?  I give this word of advice to me and to everyone: NEVER DOUBT YOUR WITNESS!

     We do not have room to doubt, especially in the moment of decision and trial! We received our witness when we were eight years old. What greater witness can you have from God? How can we doubt God when we received that strong witness so early in life? Well, God knows we will so he sends them every day through his messenger the Holy Ghost. Do not doubt your witness. God knows you and where you are needed and what you can accomplish. Satan knows also! So he will work every second of every day to turn that witness from the defendant to the accuser. He will make you feel that that witness was your own thoughts or that you were jut not thinking at all. That you cannot do it and why try even if you could. Do not back down and never give in. We have no choice and we have no time. In these latter days, we have to hold so strong to that rod and to our witness. We do not know when the Lord will come so stand strong.  But don't wait for Him to come through the door. Start walking towards it. Do not simply make it to the end, ENDURE to it. Never doubt your witness! Whether it be for life decisions or from the daily still small voice we receive, never forget or be slow to remember our God and how He has delivered us every day. Let us stand together with the Savior in giving all the Glory to the Father and never forgetting our witness. Joseph Smith saw two witnesses and he changed the world because he was never slow to remember Heavenly Father. Just keep trying. Keep going. Keep enduring in this life so you can walk into the courtroom and take a front row seat behind the defense and have no doubt of losing. I love you all so much! I love this gospel and I love my Lord. I have received my witness time and time again. This is the truth. I do sometimes doubt in the moment and I am working to make that internal change. But I testify before you all today, that I will never turn from my God and and my Savior. This is the truth! I know it! I will not deny it. The Savior is the Life, the Light, and the Way. Let us set ourselves on the way boldly!

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken

Halloween Party

Our Halloween Party!

     This past week was easily the best week of my mission to this point! I have never seen the Lord's hand among these people so much in my time here in my area. 

     I wanted to share some of those experiences this week. Our area was really struggling entering this week and it was hard for me as a trainer to train with such few investigators and teaching experiences for my new companion. So I thought we should try and go back and look in our area book and look at our dropped investigators from about a year ago. I felt prompted to call a few people with no results but we had two people call back that night. The first was a man from Hawaii (who speaks English I might add, which is a miracle in itself) and his wife and his wife's mom are less active members from Japan. He told us he wants to meet again and we are meeting tomorrow and playing basketball and having a lesson! The next man who we called was Lam. I love Lam! He is from Vietnam and he told us the only reason he could not be taught earlier was because he left to Vietnam to get married so the missionaries lost contact and dropped him, but he has been wanting to meet again. We went to go meet him on Friday at this college like 45 minutes away on our bikes. I was on splits. We got there and told him we were waiting outside and a man walks by. This was about a thirty second window because Lam came about 30 seconds later and if we saw him before we started talking to this man we would have just talked to Lam. But I talked to the man and he is from Ethiopia and his name is Bereket.... Let us just stop to take in the beauty of that name please. Anyway, Lam came out so Elder Miller talked to him while I talked to Bereket. I told him we are Christian volunteers and he told us he is Christian too. I asked him what he likes and he said basketball!  My favorite sport!  I told him I love basketball and that I would love to play of he can! He told me he would love that. Then I asked if we could share a message when we came and he flat out told me he had been looking for the true church for a long time and had tried the Catholic Church but felt it was not for him. He told me he could feel when I was talking to him that I had the answer he was looking for and asked me to share everything I have with him... I got his Facebook and we are meeting on Saturday. That was one of the most powerful moments I have had on my mission, watching the spirit testify without words, and the Lord preparing his children. That was a 30 second window after a 45 minute bike ride. I love seeing the Lord's work!! 

     Then we went to the city hall to meet an investigator and a man walks up to us. He stutters really bad, but is the nicest man ever. He tells us his name is Uchida. I had remembered right then that I had seen his name in the area book on Wednesday and he had been dropped in January because of no contact information. Almost a year ago! He told me he had a Book of Mormon and had been looking for the missionaries to teach him about it for 11 months. Such a miracle. We got his email and are meeting him today at 5! Then on Sunday, our investigator that had not been able to meet with us since September, messaged us when I asked if he could meet, and said he actually wanted to come to church and would come on Sunday! He came and stayed for the first two hours and then we taught a member present lesson during the third hour and he accepted the baptismal commitment and stayed for our little party afterwards! 

     Then to finish it off this week we had our referral from the sisters call us and say he was sorry he missed our calls and he wants to meet today at 3!! 

     Brothers and sisters the purpose of me telling you all this is because last Tuesday we had one progressing investigator who has been taught for 42 years and one potential investigator. This week, with those miracles, and with going on another split last week and getting referrals from one of the assistants who had been serving here in Nagaoka last January, we went from 2 investigators to 15. I did not change my work. I have been trying to be as faithful and diligent as possible. The people did not change in Nagaoka Japan this last week. What happened was we were patient in the Lord's timing, and because as Latter Day Saints, we know from Elder Dale G. Renlund that "saints are sinners who keep on trying." That is my message this week. Keep on trying!! Never give up on the Lord! Never give up on those around you! Never give up on yourself! Never give up! He is with you ever step of the way, He will walk with you when your suffering, and He will carry you when you cannot stand! We make mistakes every day. There are so many days when I have to look to see if I was successful even in the slightest degree as a missionary that day. But this is how I know. Did I work diligently for the Lord? What that means is I gave my all and I did what he wanted me to do, but also did it with a smile on my face and, more importantly, with joy in my heart. If we can just do those things, then "come what may and love it" as Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said. Stand upon the rock of our Redeemer, face the storm, and let Him calm it! You do not need a bigger or nicer boat to whether the storm. A bigger or better ship is not the answer. You do not need a better sail, a stronger hull, or a fancy steering wheel. Do not steer away from the waves and get hit, blind-sided, and over turn yourself. Face it head on with the Lord at the helm. Only the Lord can calm the storm and help you weather the storm of this life. Stand tall, walk at the pace you need, and meet Him on the waters. 

     Even if next week all of those investigators use their agency to choose not to meet anymore, I will use mine to glorify my God for giving me this storm to weather, this boat to sail, with my Savior at the helm. We are all just sinners who keep on trying brothers and sisters. Please just keep trying. That is all. You will see his hand in your life. But first you have the have he faith like the Brother of Jared and let the Lord light the way for you to see. It is always by his hand that we receive that light for our lives. Will you choose to see it? Will you keep on trying? I can promise that I will do my best to do so. I love you all so much! Have the best week ever! Keep your feet on the path, your hands on the rod, and keep your eyes on Christ!

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken 

"Blue Breasted Whipper Willow"

Hello Winter!

     This past week was so amazing!! We had the best Halloween Party ever with the members and we had so much fun with our haunted house. Everyone was freaking out. So fun. I am trying my best to be myself even though my companion cannot understand me. For example, this week my companion heard this bird making a way weird noise and he kept saying, "what is that sound?!" I told him flat out, "That's a Blue Breasted Whipper Willow, but they should not be in this part of Japan..." I am trying to keep Brian Regan a part of my life as much as I can. Plus, watching my companion say Blue Breasted Whipper Willow in English will make your day every single time I can guarantee it - very funny! 

     Anyway, it is getting beyond cold up here. I lost one of my gloves which is just so inconvenient. The humidity really takes the wind and cold to a new level I think was not meant for any of the Aiken family I am pretty sure. But I could be wrong. I still have All of November and maybe December up here and I'm so excited!

     But this week I found my spiritual thought when I was actually reading the sports updates from my family. I love sports too much. I could not go 2 years without hearing about BYU football and basketball, Rodger Federer with tennis, Peyton Manning with the Broncos and the Packers for football, the Dodgers for baseball, the NBA, and the occasional Jimmer update. It cannot be done.  In sports, every team works and fights to do one thing early on to win the game. It puts the odds in their favor and puts their opponent on their heels. Setting the tone. They set the tone for the game and run by their pace and by their strengths and often they never look back until the final whistle blows. That is how they play the game to the best of their ability. But how are we playing this game of life to the best of our ability?  Just like in sports, we have a coach in Heavenly Father and He has the perfect game plan! No matter what, in this game our Coach is going to win, so why don't we all win the game?? Because, just like in sports we have to "set the tone", but it is a little different. We "set the tune." You choose to tune in to the spirit or not. If we set the tune early in the game we are literally being radio'd in all of our opponents plays and next moves! With that kind of power there is no way to lose, but so many people do not want all of the conditioning and hard work it takes to be able to set the tune early when it is game time. Too many times we wait til it is late in the game to heed the promptings we are receiving. We do not need to be a second half team. We do not need comeback stories. Though I love a good comeback story every time I see it, if we set the tune early, Satan will have no power over us because we will know his workings and we have been conditioned with practice and we understand the promptings of the Spirit. That means studying the scriptures, or the playbook we have received if you will, and studying the words in our minds, so that we know what we need to do to when Satan sends his fiery darts. Satan will not spend one second being lazy or taking his foot off the gas. If we do not set the tune early and live worthily to have the power of the Spirit in our lives, we will not be able to withstand our adversary in the 4th quarter when the end of the game approaches and everything is on the line. For each of us personally, this game with always be close, the score tied to the very end, but if we follow the guidance of a member of the Godhead and with thanks to our Savior, it will end in a blowout victory when the clock hits zero. I am sorry to stick with sports terms but it makes it so simple! Set the tune!! Now!! For all of us now, we came into this life in the last game of the season and we are all Seniors on this team. We all have our part. I beg of you all to set the tune and heed the Spirit's voice, because he is calling out to you trying to help you return home victorious to our Heavenly Father. We all have the ability to return home to him. Why not go home? Set the tune. We have two options, 1-0, or 0-1. No unclean thing can return to the Kingdom of Heaven. But even though it comes down to those two things, if we tune in, it is not even close to a 50/50 shot. The odds are in our favor 1000000000000/1. The Lord will never lose, so please choosing the winning team. Please choose to heed the warnings of the spirit. Set the tune!  

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken