Hello everyone! What a week it's been. People here have been very interested with the elction in the U.S.. All week people would stop us just because we were white even though my companion is Brazilian and he had no idea about it. It was a perfect opportunity to talk the gospel! But what a great week with more beautiful pictures of this beautiful Island and more of the Lord's work being done.
I had an amazing chance to go on a split finally with Elder Judd this last week in his last transfer. He is a traveling assistant and came up to work with us! We went to Brighton together and had multiple classes together so it was way fun. He has been a part of my mission since the beginning. I saw him my very first day in Niigata because we just luckily ended up in the same zone. We had a fun time. I will miss him.
I had a member from my previous area call me yesterday and he just told me, "Elder Aiken I don't know why but I just got this really nervous feeling like you were not ok and I had to call you. Are you ok? How are you doing?" He is the best of all time. I told him that everything was fine except for my hip injury. He goes, "I knew it! I knew something was wrong. That's so interesting isn't it? That I got that nervous feeling..." Then he went on and asked about my hip and everything. He is the best.
Another miracle is that I have been looking for a cheap place to cut my hair here because I do not trust my companion. I am not letting Edward Scissorhands over here cut my hair. But then with Elder Judd on splits we housed into this young man who has a lot of interest in learning English and he told he cuts hair and I just got really serious thinking this is my one shot. So I took a deep breath and fired out the moment defying question we all face at one time in our lives... how much? He looks at me and says a mere... ¥690 or $6! Needless to say he was pretty hyped when we said we would come on Monday.
The other miracle was we housed into a 26 year old man and he's a soccer coach for 150 youth on Sado and coaches them every week. He coaches at three locations with about 50 youth each. He asked us to come help him coach and because he said the youth would love us. Now my soccer skills are just a few strokes below par. Or over par. However the saying goes to say that I am bad. My English is dead people. I had to tell him I was good because I have a Brazilian companion who by nature has to be amazing so it is fine. They will all focus on him. But the reason it is such a miracle is because President Nagano always has such a strong push on working with youth so we are excited! Rising generation! Sorry that was long, now onto a spiritual thought!
I want to talk about something President Harold B. Lee once said:
“In His Sermon on the Mount the Master has given us somewhat of a revelation of His own character, which was perfect, or what might be said to be ‘an autobiography, every syllable of which He had written down in deeds,’ and in so doing has given us a blueprint for our own lives.”
The Savior wrote his own autobiography not with pen and paper but with his words and his deeds. He wrote his autobiography to us with his life. How are we writing our autobiographies? Now we might not have our sermons on mounts in our lives but what about when we testify in Sacrament meeting? Testify to our families? To your kids? To your friends? Are you giving somewhat of a revelation of your own character? What character are you revealing? Is it a character that is in line with the Lord's? Not just in church or spiritual moments but in our daily lives. What words are we using? What deeds are we doing? Are we showing love? Are we serving? Are we use kind, clean language? Are we selfless and humble? Are we holding grudges, easily offended, or contentious? Are we writing an autobiography that you would be willing to sell to the public? The Lord had nothing to hide about his life because it was completely in line with our Heavenly Father. How are we doing? Are there things we are doing or words we are saying that we know are not in line with what the Lord would have us do? So we rip out a page, hide a page, or withhold the book altogether and stop praying to the Lord or worshipping on Sundays. So we start hiding parts of ourselves or our emotions from our family and friends. Then projecting a built up anger or sadness at those around us. But the fact is that this life is the editing time! When this life ends and we approach the judgement bar we will have to bring that book to him and he will read it as it has been edited through the atonement. My plea is that as we write our own autobiography and we reveal our character in our words and deeds that it can be one to be proud of. Take it to Lord in prayer if you have any doubts. Then if you need, take it to your bishop, and with the atonement, fix any typos, bad autocorrections (impulsive acts), and erase sentences, paragraphs, even chapters of our lives if need be. The atoning blood of Christ is like that red dotted line underlining a word that is out of place or misspelled. It is clear to see, but through that atonement, easily fixed. That atoning power is the whiteout of our own life novel. Let there be nothing to hide. Let us live an amazing autobiography! Be a light on a hill!! Be an example! People always watch what you do! Your kids, peers, coworkers. People on the street! Everyone sees your character. Everyone sees you. How do they see you? More importantly, how do you see you? Write an amazing Autobiography this week! Just start by doing it for one day! Improve yourself for one day! Give yourself to the Lord's will for one day! Then do it again... and again... and again. I know we can!
Have a great week everyone!
Elder Trevor Aiken
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