A great baptism!

 

    Hello everyone! It has been a fantastic week. Our investigator was baptized Thursday and it was amazing! He was so happy! He was baptized during the week with only the missionaries and the bishopric in attendance.  All the missionaries who had taught him who had not already gone home came to his baptism and it was so powerful. I got to sing which I love to do. It's always so nice see the spirit that music can bring, especially in the atmosphere of a baptism. He testified powerfully. He was not shy or nervous about being a new member. He was so excited to be confirmed. I had the great opportunity to confirm him a member in Sacrament meeting on Sunday and he was just glowing! He was already talking about his preparation of becoming a missionary and going to the temple. He is so excited. Such an amazing week. 

     Then we got to finally meet with our other investigator Mr. Wang from China. He is awesome. But we have not been able to meet with him for about 3 weeks. He came to the church and we asked him if he had had the chance to read the Restoration pamphlet we gave him. We were kind of thinking he had not because he said he had been so busy and it was really hard to meet. But he told us that not only had he read the whole pamphlet but he had prayed about it 3 or 4 times and believes it is true. We asked him, if he believed it was true, what is the next step? He said, well... Baptism. We asked him if that is what he wanted and he said yes. He knows it is true and wants to be baptized. He said he is figuring out his visa and work and there some definite bumps in the road but he wants to reach it. So exciting! We are working with him to reach that goal. 

     I just never want to go home. I cannot picture a life where I am not a missionary where I feel as much joy as I do now. I am in love with this work. I never want it to end. It is so simple. So focused. So driven. I love these people. I am dreading the day where I walk into church on Sunday and I do not get to say another ohio gozaimasu and talk to these people I love. I treasure every day, because they are so fleeting. So fast. It is already the third week of this transfer. I love Japan. I love this work. I am soo happy!! It is the best! I love seeing the mercy and love of God in this work. He always forgives! Teaching those around me of repentance and the chance to change and seeing that change in the life of the investigators in this area is so humbling. "It underscores the thought I heard many years ago that surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it." God wants to be merciful. The Savior wants to forgive. And the spirit wants to show us how. Oh how merciful the Lord has been to me. He has changed me. A lot of times we don't receive God's mercy because we do not accept. "I am not worthy of his love." "He does not want to talk to me." "Not after what I have done." "How could he take everything... Again?" BECAUSE. HE. LOVES. US. He loves us PERFECTLY! Undeniably. Unfathomably. Incomparably. The Savior always walks upon the waters that we so tenderly fear to walk. Sometimes not because we think we can't do it. But rather because we can. Because that means change. That means growth. That means faith will turn into a perfect knowledge where faith can go dormant and can never turn back from the truth. Because it means conviction. Consecration. And sometimes we are humble enough to give just that. Please let us believe that God is merciful... Then accept his mercy. His hands are ever hanging down to lift us up! Have the greatest week ever! I love you all!! 

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken

  

Week 71

It's true...I'm the ping-pong champion!

    Hello!  It has been such an amazing time this week full of miracles here in Kawagoe! It has only been one and a half months but it has been the best!! We also found out that Elder Bednar is coming to our mission to have a conference on October 18th!!!! I cried... No I didn't but I am so excited! It is going to be unreal. I am ready for the spirit to pierce my heart and tell me how I need to improve. Very excited. Also, we had a wedding in the ward and had the reception in the church. Sister Murayama got married and it was a great day.

     This week I felt prompted to talk about confidence and how it directly relates to obedience. Confidence in ourselves and in the Lord. First I want to talk about confidence in the Lord. There are so many times in life where people lose the faith and confidence in the Lord's promises. We often lose confidence in the Lord and give up on the Lord's will, when in reality it is because we have been giving up on Him. Either from pride, selfishness, or disobedience. Not even the pride of selfishness of thinking we are better than the Lord, but the unwillingness and desire to change when change is needed. We see needed change, are either too lazy or selfish to do it, and blame the Lord when He does not just give the change to us or bless us and we lose confidence in Him. Especially in disobedience. 

     As missionaries there are so many things that are against the rules here that would not be consididered disobedient in normal life. I have had times where I have wanted just to look up my friends or family on Facebook just to see a latest picture of how they are doing or see the wedding photo of my numerous friends getting married haha. But the people of Ammon did not bury 99% of their "weapons of rebellion." They did not keep a part for themselves. That little disobedience and pride would show a lack of faith and confidence in the Lord. It is the difference between testimony and conversion. Between knowing and actually doing. Conversion is an offering of self, of love, and of loyalty that we give to God in gratitude for the gift of testimony. When we say a little lie to someone, are disobedient in what we justify as a little thing, or we're too prideful to change, our testimony and knowledge might not be altered yet, but our conversion will. We are not showing that gratitude. And testimony is not enough. It will falter and fail. Because we can't fight against the spirit and win. When we are disobedient or fight against what we know to be true and refuse to convert ourselves, our testimony will eventually give out under the pressure because testimony brings increased personal accountability. The spirit will tell us what we are doing is wrong and we will give in to change... To conversion or apostasy. 

     In middle school, high school, and I will say college as well, teenagers are very self conscious and sometimes pretty down. But almost always it comes down to two things. The first, one that comes to everyone is the brutal life of being a teenager! Teenagers are brutal and people can get really hurt by what they say. They get down because of what other people would say to them. But the other half might be one that parents do not always stop to think about. One that adults often do as well. The lack of self-esteem that comes from disobedience to the Lord. Knowing that what we are doing is wrong and that guilt that comes in turn. Guilt which, when left unresolved, turns into projected anger or sadness. But some times parents see it and think, "oh, they are just teenagers they are in a mood swing." Or someone probably said something rude to them at school. That is true as well but also the latter happens more than people think I believe. We lose confidence in ourselves when do not keep the commandments because we lose sight of who we are. Sons and daughters of God. And we begin to identify ourselves with the names that others give us in order to fill the empty name tag that we now carry. It is like we just hand the marker around and allow people to write whatever name they want on there. But if we love God, do His will, and fear His judgment more than men's, we will have self-esteem. There is confidence in conversion, trial in testimony, and fear in faltering. Strength and confidence comes in obedience and conversion. Conversion is believing, exercising, repenting, experiencing, and becoming. As we love him and do His will we will be confident in Him, feel His love, and in turn be confident in ourselves. 

     I have changed so much on my mission. I have finally found true confidence in myself. I am becoming who HE wants me to be! I now carry two names on my name tag. Not many people know this I guess but I was so self conscious about who I was before my mission. About how I looked, what I said, what other people thought... About what God thought. But now I have self-esteem and pure joy every day!!:) because I feel the spirit and God's love every day. Because I know I am doing what He wants me to do and I know I am being obedient. I pray that we can all find self-esteem in following Him who gave us life. The One who really matters and loves us perfectly. Not just merely have a testimony, but convert ourselves to Him. "Knowing that the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony. Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion. We should know the gospel is true and be true to the gospel" 

     Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken

Week 69!

All gone!

     Well.. To start off..  BYU won! BYU won! BYU won! That time of year has come baby!!  I literally looooooove BYU football, but seeing a miracle performed by the Lord is still much better than watching a touchdown by Taysom Hill.

My new P-day shirt!   

     Our investigator, Maki, who we are meeting on Thursday, called a member on Sunday after church who fellowshipped her very well and said she wanted to talk about her life with her. Like a heart to heart. The member said why don't we meet with the Elders first and then we can talk after as well. They want to meet you. She said that would be awesome. We met with her and we just asked her how she felt about the last lesson. She said she loved the message but... She did not know if it was all true. She said she has a strong desire but she does not know it yet. We told her of course she will not know it right at first and that it takes time. Don't be worried. The spirit just prompted to share Alma 32:26-27 and I said I think there is a scripture that is perfect for you and what you are feeling. We read it and she was so caught off guard. She said that is exactly how I feel!! How did you know?? Did you prepare it beforehand? How do the scriptures always contain exactly what I need? It was such an awesome lesson! The spirit was so powerful and we went on and finished the lesson and we are meeting again on Thursday. 

     Lastly, my favorite. So the area I am in had not seen a baptism in almost 2 years. I came in about a month ago and Elder Rhea and I have been working really hard and we have been praying to have 24 hours of faith each day and when that day is up... Pray for it again. Then show it. We were able to have an amazing baptism a few weeks ago and then this week we saw an amazing miracle. We have an investigator whose name I will not reveal who is of a different faith. He lived in a different country but has since moved Japan. He met the missionaries almost on the day he arrived in Japan and has been taking lessons ever since. He has kind of been on and off for a year and we thought he would never get baptized.  We have been working with him and it was kind of stalling. It went for a few weeks and we could not meet him after trying a few times but finally he just called us and said I want to meet...today!  We said absolutely and we met him at the church. He came, sat down, and told us that there was something he wanted to talk about. He said, "I want to be baptized. I know it is what I need to do. I have come to know Jesus Christ and everything in my heart, every feeling I have tells me I need to get baptized. But I know how dangerous and how hard it would be so I do not know what to do."  I leaned forward and I said, I think the spirit is telling you you should be baptized. I promise this is what God wants for you. I told him what we can do is have you meet with President Nagano and he can interview you and see if you are safe to be baptized and he can meet with you next week. Will you do it? He was so caught off guard with how straight forward I was and with how I had set a time frame for the following week. He said... Let's do it. President Nagano was so kind and came the following Saturday. Interviewed him. Actually also went through all of the baptismal questions as well and he passed both! President Nagano called the area president and sent an email to Church Headquarters and they cleared him to be baptized!! We are going to teach him the rest of the lessons and he will be baptized here in the next 3 or 4 weeks!! Yes!! So amazing!! Such an amazing miracle!! 

     Which leads into my spiritual thought. This week I wanted to share a quick thought on patience in the Lord's timing but also His will. You might have already heard part of this but I just wanted to testify of it. Of patience in and through trials.  President Thomas S. Monson has said, "God left the world unfinished for man to work his skill upon. He left the electricity in the cloud, the oil in the earth. He left the rivers unbridged and the forests unfelled and the cities unbuilt. God gives to man the challenge of raw materials, not the ease of finished things. He leaves the pictures unpainted and the music unsung and the problems unsolved, that man might know the joys and glories of creation." God does not give us finished things. He never will. He gives us the raw materials and agency to grow and face adversity in this life to grow and become like him. And the beauty of his creations is he always creates things that can keep on creating. 

      I also want to talk about trials.  The word that does not taste good when it leaves the tip of your tongue. Trials are God-given chances to open our eyes to, and highlight the characteristics of Christ that need the most work. And almost always, patience is involved. Patience in others, and more often than not, patience with our own weaknesses. God knows what we need. He will not give us patience, but he will give us chances to be patient. He will not give us faith, but he will give us chances to exercise and grow it. 

      Patience is not bearing something or gritting your teeth and just getting by. When Elder Neal A. Maxwell was undergoing the trial of Leukemia, he told Elder Bednar that, "I have learned that not shrinking is more important than surviving."  We cannot lower our faith or expectations in the Lord just because something is unbearable, or so it seems, and something does not go our way. No matter how hard. I know coming from a 20 year old kid this does not seem like much because I have not faced terrible trials. At least that is the image everyone sees when they see me always smiling and laughing and loving this gospel. Which I do. But we all have our crosses. Another 20 year old woman had a very hard cross to bear. That was three weeks after she got married to the love of her life for time and all eternity, a 23 years old named John. John found out he had very serious terminal cancer and it was not looking great. Elder Bednar went and visited John and they talked for a while and then John asked for a blessing. Elder Bednar was more than happy to do so, but he said first I need to ask you some questions. Then the spirit took Elder Bednar a very different direction than he thought, but he asked, "John, do you have the faith not to be healed? If it is the will of our Heavenly Father that you are transferred by death in your youth to the spirit world to continue your ministry, do you have the faith to submit to His will and not be healed?  Have we not all had numerous times where we asked Heavenly Father like the Savior did as well to "take this from me." Have we not all cried out begging him to take away some pain we are feeling. I have spent years sending that prayer and plea to Heaven's height in my life with different things. But how many times have we asked the Lord, "Lord... Help me to accept thy will for me whatever it be, and to help me carry this cross." Rather than "Lord make me whole." We all have crosses to bear. I wanted to leave this thought with you and I ask you to please ask yourself if you have the faith not to be healed. To have the faith that the Lord definitely COULD heal us, but not always that He would. Believe in Him. Trust Him. He knows our needs. He knows the bigger picture. Do we have the faith to not be healed even when it makes no sense not to be? In our eyes, and often the eyes of many around us. Let us have faith. Let us look upon Christ with a steadfastness to walk on water and never falter I pray! 

     Have the best week ever!

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken