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