Happy Halloween from Sado!

     Happy Halloween!  It was a great week. I am on the Island! They have not voted me off yet so it is all good. We have 12 active members, 4 Priesthood holders and 2 young women. We are rolling! We just have this little rented building with three rooms for our church. But I love every member here already! My companion is Brazilian and I am not lying, he is the first person I have ever met in my life that speaks more than me. And not by a little bit! He never stops talking so all of you who know me know how interesting this relationship must be.  He's awesome!

  

   This week another thought came to me that Elder Bednar said when he visited recently that I want to expound on. He said, "I am going to tell you something so simple you may have never even seen it this way. It's that simple." He went on to talk about the Tree of Life in Lehi's Dream. Now maybe everyone that reads this already thought of it this way but it was interesting to think of it this way for me. He talked about the group of people who progressed to the tree, partook of the fruit which was the love of God or Christ. But when I read that it was always hard for me to understand how the people could just immediately turn away from that great amazing feeling. I always read that when I was younger and was always dumbfounded just thinking you already came all that way! How could you just turn away that fast?? But Elder Bednar said the fruit of the tree is the Atonement. It is repentance. And I sat back in that meeting and realized how many times I was in that second group. How many times I had chosen not to use the power of the Atonement. How many times I have repented and then made mistakes again. How many times in our lives have we turned away from our picnic at the tree (I know that sounds interesting. I am not saying that in the way that it is like a picnic and so easy. Just painting a picture) to set down our have eaten fruit to go and look around. Saying that we will come back and finish it later. When I saw the fruit as the Atonement and repentance, my standpoint changed in the way I ponder on the dream. I always put myself in that first group that reached the tree and stayed. It seemed so black and white. Simple. No gray area. The other groups were not related to me. But I realized there have been times where I set down the fruit for the world for a minute and joined that second group. Sometimes a lot longer than a minute. But the Lord has always been merciful enough to let me come back and partake again and again.  Please,if you have set down the fruit for a while, or even just for a minute, pick it back up and partake of it always. You can never be too full. We can never be too full of His love and His atoning power. But it is ever so easy to set it down to go look around for a while. Especially when no one is looking. To sneak away even only with the intention to look around. You will never find a better fruit. What is better than love. Pure love. Perfect love. From a perfect being. I would choose that over "fun" or "exciting." 

     But sometimes I know in the moment we don't always choose right. We aren't thinking clearly and we make mistakes. Sometimes we cannot see the Lord's ways and see the bigger picture so we give up on the faith thing because we do not understand or we do not see immediate feedback. But "Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?" Proverbs 20:24. That fruit is always back by the tree. We just need to humble ourselves enough to humbly approach that picnic at the tree again and partake. Sometimes we know if we approach the tree, no matter how quietly, that the people by the the tree will turn their heads and see us approaching and realize we left, or watch our humble walk back and we fear their judgement. Just let them deal with their fruit and go partake of yours. We approach the tree for His love not for their love. 

     In Lehi's Dream they pressed forward for His love. God's love. The Savior's love. I pray every day that we (So many of you by name) may be able to desire and focus on His love, press forward, and partake of it. Then... Stay. 

     Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken

Transferring to Sado!

     Hello everyone.  I apologize it has been a while since I last wrote.  But it has been a week with huge ups and downs. My companion had to go home this past week for medical reasons a year into his mission. That was very hard for me seeing him go and definitely a lot harder for him. But he is set in trying to figure out the problem and get back into the field if possible. 

     This week I had one of the most powerful, spiritual, and tender moments for me on my mission. We had Elder Bednar come and speak to us last. The Tokyo South mission came up and also joined us. We were about 6 rows away from an Apostle of the Lord. But not the ones you see in conference. He was so funny, so relaxed. He was just like any other man in the way he joked around and was way funny. But he held a spirit and a power that led me to listen to and hear what was not being said and receive personal revelation of how I need to improve and change and grow. He instilled such a desire in everyones hearts to be a little better. A little more obedient, dedicated, and consecrated. That is what I will be. I am striving for it and seeking improvement.   

     One thing I loved is how Elder Bednar and his wife both went up and said, "Didn't Elder Christofferson put God's love in a new light last conference." I love that the apostles still grow and learn from each other. They all have their own insights and knowledge to bring and I love that. Sometimes it just seems to me like they all just know every single thing so what other apostles say is not new to them, but that is not true. Loved that. You could just see the respect and the love that they have for each other. 

     I learned so much in the conference and I will probably tell you some little by little each week, but one thing I loved was that he talked about how we have agency and need to be agents not objects. We need to act and not be acted upon. He said how one time someone asked him if he had ever been in a boring sacrament meeting or other meeting. He said that anyone who has ever said that they have been in a boring and bad meeting was because they were not agents, they were objects. They allowed themselves to be spoken at. They sat there and just said ok give it to me. Make it fun. Like it is entertainment. You need to be interacting. You need to be listening for what is not being said. For what the spirit is telling you. Do not just sit there and be acted upon. He said that when someone says they were in a boring sacrament meeting or class, that says nothing about the meeting and everything about that person. In our church of course there are many people who are not always super energetic and fun and or are still working on teaching skills. That is why we need to be agents, not objects. I loved those thoughts. There have been many a time when I was younger that I have said that about meetings. On my mission sitting there not being able to understand any of the Japanese coming from the pulpit has caused me to think along the same lines sometimes. Especially when everyone is laughing and I don't know why so I just laugh awkwardly so people think I get it. But just a little quieter than everyone else so it is not obvious I am faking! But I loved what he said. We need to act and be agents not objects. 

     It is transfer week as well and I am transferring to a little Island called Sado. It is the farthest away area in our mission. It is way up north! I am going back to Niigata for winter again. It is going to be a cold one. I was so sad to hear I was leaving Kawagoe, but time for another new journey!

     Talk to next week from Sado!

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken