Week 89!

At a Kendo class

     Hello!  How are you all doing? This is Grandpa Aiken here. 

     It was a good week! However, we got sad news when one of our investigators told us he's moving to New Zealand for about a month which might push past the end of this transfer.  But I hope he gets back before that so we can keep teaching him. He is going back because his older sister, who is a member, just had a baby so he is going to visit her. We are praying so hard that his sister can have an influence on him and he can have a desire to join this church!

     Our other investigtor is still battling and fighting to overcome her addiction and still has such a desire to be baptized but she will not hit her Date on the 29th which is sad but not discouraging. Discouragement lowers faith!:) She can do it - I know it. 

     Another hit we took this week was our third investigator who told us that honestly finding his answer about the church was not a priority and he said he did not have the time right now because he needs to focus on his entrance exam to get into college coming up in February, and then if he passes, he needs to prep everything to find a place and move down to Tokyo or Kyoto, whichever college he gets into. So he asked if he could meet again in April. That was way sad. It was Elder Barrett's last lesson here before he left and he had been teaching him the whole time he was here so that was hard for him to leave on that note.  So many ups and downs in the mission right!?:) It has definitely been a journey. 

Saying goodbye to Elder Barrett

     I hit double-double digits this past week. 20 months. My heart truly sorrows when I think of the speed of this mission, holy cow! I have grown so so much and yet I find I am still have so much to learn. There is never enough time to reach the growth we want to. 

     But one thing I have been able to successfully do is gain a firm testimony. A testimony gained in the bearing of it. "The skeptic will say that to bear testimony when you may not know you possess one is to condition yourself; that the response is manufactured. Well, one thing for sure, the skeptic will never know, for he will not meet the requirement of faith, humility, and obedience to qualify him for the visitation of the Spirit. Can you not see that that is where testimony is hidden, protected perfectly from the insincere, from the intellectual, from the mere experimenter, the arrogant, the faithless, the proud? It will not come to them. Bear testimony of the things that you hope are true, as an act of faith." 

     During my mission, any principle that I did not have a spiritual witness of its truth, I testified of. I testified with a firm desire that the spirit can confirm my words so that those I was testifying to could know as well. And I would say that every time my heart was sincere and I was humble enough to listen that witness came to me. "Testimonies coming in the bearing of them so much more so than down on our knees begging for them." Now of course there are things that I do not know and probably never will. But "Man's going are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?" Proverbs 20:24.    

     I don't know everything. I am not perfect and I have much to improve. But I know this church is true and that will never change. My challenge to you this week is if there is anything that unsettles you or you are struggling with, or maybe you just do not have a set testimony of its truthfulness, testify of it. Full of humility, faith, and obedience and try it. It can be to a friend, family member, or at church. But I know the spirit will confirm in your heart that it is true. 

     A very simple message but I hope you have the best week ever. I am so happy. I have never loved a people so much. This mission has allowed me to do that. I am so grateful to be here. 

"Gratitude opens hearts. Especially if it is your own." 

     Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken 

Judge not...

     Ladies and gentleman boys and girls! I am transfer 14! I am so old. I am like 90 and I have one bad hip to show for it haha;) but we got our transfer call and... I am staying! But my companion is leaving. I was so sad. We got along so well. I love him and will miss him a ton. I will see you soon Elder Barrett! 

     My new companion is Elder Anderson. He may be very small in stature but he has a big heart! I was in the same zone with him in Niigata. He is transfer 3 just like a Elder Barrett was so I am excited. It will be fun. The work goes on! 

     I talked about Elder Bednar's analogy a few weeks ago about how the fruit on the Tree of Life is the Atonement and repentance. And I talked about how some people are so scared when they sin or make a mistake, set the fruit (Atonement) down and turn from the tree. Scared that those that have stayed by the tree will turn and look as they return to the tree to reach and take another bite and repent. They are so scared that heads will turn and they will be judged by those by the tree. Now stop and look in the mirror with me for a moment. Honestly, look within yourself and think if there have been times that as a member, we may have judged another members actions for what they have done as they have fallen away, or sadly, even judged when they came back. We can't look at people through camera lenses. Looking through old photo albums full of our past images of them. People can change. That image we hold in our hand, very well might not be the same person we could be looking at before us. That's the Atonement. 

     The thought that came to me this week was are we--those who are standing by the tree--acting as those who are pointing from the building? Isn't there enough judging in the building that there shouldn't be any by the tree? The last thing we need is for those by the tree to look down on repentant hands, rather than lifting them up. Where are we standing? Whose side are we on? Do we stand with feet by the tree.. and our fingers pointing from the great and spacious building? Have we ever acted as the brother jealous of the returning prodigal son? Haven't we all had to humbly pick up that fruit that we so foolishly set down? The gospel is perfect, people aren't. Our judgements may stop the 1 from approaching the 99. 

Painting by Minerva Teichert

"If you think that your different 

because of the things that you've done

Remember all of the ninety and nine

Spent some time as the one."

     When the temptation to judge comes, please let us apply the two word sermon from President Uchtdorf. "Stop it!" It's the new year. People can change. Believe it in yourself and believe it in others. Believe Christ. It is so easy when we are struggling or have hardship to turn inward instead of outward and to misjudge, find fault, or to merely not think of others. I honestly don't know how but somehow we forget that those who we may be judging are 100% going through a trial of their own and we never know the full story. Reading the front cover and the summary on the back, never has and never will give a reader enough information to know the pages of that book. Don't read people, read the Book of Mormon haha. 

     Elder Bednar said, "Perhaps the greatest indicator of character is the capacity to recognize and appropriately respond to other people who are experiencing the very challenge or adversity that is most immediately and forcefully pressing upon us. Character is revealed, for example, in the power to discern the suffering of other people when we ourselves are suffering; in the ability to detect the hunger of others when we are hungry; and in the power to reach out and extend compassion for the spiritual agony of others when we are in the midst of our own spiritual distress. Thus, character is demonstrated by looking and reaching outward when the natural and instinctive response is to be self-absorbed and turn inward. If such a capacity is indeed the ultimate criterion of moral character, then the Savior of the world is the perfect example of such a consistent and charitable character."

     Turning outward when it would be so easy to turn inward.. that is the true test of character. May we judge righteously!

Have a great week -

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken

Week 87 - Wow!

Anyone up for a chicken heart???

     Can you even believe it? 87 weeks... oh my. Wow. It is already week 6 of the transfer. It will already be transfer calls a week from today! This is easily the best time of my mission! My peak! The last six months of your mission really are what everyone says. It is just sprinting til the end, Foot on the gas, talking to everyone, loving every second. I have never been happier in my life. 

     It was such an amazing week!! So last Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we were inside all day. In Japan we are not allowed to do missionary work on New Years so we are inside all day for the 31st and the 1st usually. On those two days one day is dedicated to reading the Book of Mormon. We read it all day! Best ever! Then the next day we clean all day. In Japan, for the New Year everyone does their deep cleaning and deep deep clean their whole home. So we did that to our apartment, but I am 1000% sure that last year it was not done up in here because it was not good. It took us two days but it is all done! Everything! We had 10 huge bags of trash! It was the best. I love throwing away things that we don't need. 

At a YSA activity

    Here is the update on Maki! Maki cut her cigarettes from 20 down to 3. She had the most powerful lesson with two of her best friends who were members sitting in on the lesson. She is little by little getting more and more excited about changing her life and being baptized. She came to church for all three hours for the first time ever! Then she stayed after for an hour and a half to talk to members! She was so happy and every class she attended in the 3 hour block was changed and prepared for her. The lesson was changed to fit her needs by the teachers and it was unreal! She is doing so good! 

     Then onto the last one I was fed to share this week... have I told you all about Luka? If I have I am sorry for the repetition but here we go. Luka is a 21 year old huge beautiful Polynesian man who is like 6"1 and so strong. He is a college Rugby player and his dad was a professional rugby player in Japan and a lot of people know his dad. He was born in Japan but is Tongan and his parents are from New Zealand and he lived there for middle school and high school. He is a Japanese citizen as well and he speaks fluent Japanese, English, and Tongan. Years ago his aunt got baptized and then she married a member and moved to Florida. They had 10 kids who all went on to serve missions. Then 4 years ago Luka's older sister when to stay with his aunt because she was really struggling in life and wanted to get a way for a little while. While visiting them she fell in love with the gospel, founds it truth and was baptized. She came back to Japan and prepared to serve a mission a year later. Then about 2 years ago when she returned she took Luka to church with her every week in a place called Kumagaya which is pretty far from Sakado, but then about a year ago she got married and moved to New Zealand so he stopped going. Then 2 months ago Elder Barrett (not yet my companion back then) gave a Book of Mormon to this Japanese guy on the train who ended up being Luka's Rugby teammate! He went back to the dorms and he showed Luka the Book about 3 weeks ago and he asked what it was. Luka freaked out and said, "Where did you get it?" He gave Luka the flyer we gave him and he walked into church the very next week. He walked in 2 weeks ago with a white shirt and tie ready to feel the spirit. 

     Then!! Then!! This last week he flew to Utah!! He went and stayed with his cousins in Utah who are all members as well and had an amazing time. He then came to church yesterday and we had an amazing lesson! He knows so much about our message and church so we taught at a faster pace and he just ate it all up. He loved it and understood it all so well. We taught the whole first lesson and about temples and eternal families because family is the most important thing to him. I love Tongan culture regarding families! Then after the lesson he told us, "That was the best lesson I have ever had. Elders I already know this church is true. I know it is the path for me and that this is where I belong. I know I will be baptized. It is just a matter of when. I am pretty lost in my life right now regarding my future so it is hard for me to make these big decisions." The spirit was just tangible and it was amazing. But I told him, "Luka who better to ask about your future than the One who knows you perfectly. Have you ever actually tried going to a quiet place and praying one on one with God?" He said, "actually I never have. But now seeing Joseph Smith and the feeling I feel here I want to try." He is the best ever! The Lord prepares His children!! The church is true! 

     I love the thought that I was called to serve the Japanese people. I was called to serve the people living in Japan. And so far that has included people from China, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Japan, New Zealand, etc. This is the best mission on earth. This is my home. I am creating eternal friendships here that will never be broken! I love this work! "On to Zion" as my brother Brock would say. 

Let us be disciples of our Savior Jesus Christ! Let us do his work. I wear his name on my chest and it is the greatest honor I could ever hold. 

ACTS 19:13,15 

13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

     Are we true disciples of Christ? Do we testify from personal knowledge and testimony? Or do we testify of a God who we are strangers to? Testify of "someone else's God and Savior" because we have not come to know them ourselves? Do we act with the promise of that sacrament prayer we renew each week to remember and take upon us His name?! Does Christ know us? Do we know Him? Let us BELIEVE CHRIST! 

     What a great day it is to be alive! What a great day it is to be a part of this restored church. Aren't we so blessed?:):):) the church is true! I know it. 

     Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken

Happy New Year!

     Happy New Year! I woke up in the morning of the first with such excitement for a new year - then realization hit me right in my heart. I would never have another calendar year as a missionary. I would never go from January first to January first again with this name tag on my chest. I will not get another year to give every piece of my heart and soul to these people I love. I love them so much. They truly have every piece of my heart. I have come to see them as the Savior sees them, and my heart is full of love unto the consuming of my soul. I cannot picture leaving them. I cried during that morning prayer just begging the Lord to slow down the time and help me to treasure every day. Oh how I love this gospel that I can have the eternal hope that I will see all of them again in this life or the next. There are no goodbyes. I cannot imagine leaving this place though. I cannot not imagine ending my mission. For me, a mission is the Kolob of this life. I have never been closer to Him. I will forever hold this past year as a missionary in my heart.

     Looking forward to the new year, I pray we can be a little better. A better friend, a better husband, wife, brother, sister, son, daughter, mother or father. I pray we can love with a little more authenticity, and be a little more selfless. I pray that we can think a little more before we speak and act and make sure we are doing so to uplift and love rather than to demean or to tear down. I pray we can be a little more active in our callings, and a little more dedicated to the part of the vineyard in which we serve. I pray we can work hard and also play hard. I pray we can give more than we receive and give thanks for all that we do receive. Overall, I pray we can be a little more like our Savior. I am excited for another year and another chance to improve. Aren't you?? Another year to study, obtain, and use our Savior's glorious atonement?? I know I am!:)

New Year's Eve dinner - Fish eggs, octopus, and the pink and white things are mashed - squished/packed fish. 

     This week I just wanted to share two miracles that have let me know that God knows all. If any of you remember my previous investigator from Kawagoe - Maki - she is probably the investigator closest to my heart. I was the Elder who started teaching her and she is the best. She heard the voice of the Lord telling her to come unto him and has had some amazing experiences. Since I came to Sakado which is the neighboring area to Kawagoe and in the same district, I have been able to hear from the sisters on how she is doing since they started teaching her after I left. She opened up to the sisters a few weeks ago that she is really struggling with smoking. She was smoking 20 cigarettes a day and her health got so bad that she was coughing so severely that she broke two of her ribs. She then cut down to 10 a day after that and she called the sisters over 2 weeks ago and she told them God had broken her ribs because she was not keeping the Word of Wisdom (I thought that was funny but if it keeps her coming closer to God I am in). 

     The sisters talked with her and told her, "well then you need to stop, Maki. You are killing yourself and you have two kids who need you. The Lord has been calling you and he wants you to come unto him." She said she knew she needed to but she said she is too weak. I can't do it. So a member and friend of Maki's told her about, and testified of, priesthood blessings and Maki just said, "I need that." Now Maki lives closer to Kawagoe but she actually has a lot of member friends in Sakado so she asked if her best friend who is a member in Sakado could have her husband give her the blessing and they said of course and set it up. Then the sisters told me she was coming up to our ward Christmas Party in Sakado and Maki wanted me to participate in the blessing and I was so excited! I had not seen Maki since I had left Kawagoe. So we planned to do the blessing after the party and we were all ready until the brother who was going to give the blessing had an emergency and had to leave, so Maki came up to me and asked if I would do it. I was so caught off guard and a little nervous with my Japanese but of course I accepted. We went upstairs and I prayed so hard that the Lord would guide my words. I don't remember all of what The Lord said through me, but the blessing ended and the Spirit was so powerful. It was tangible for me. Then Maki stood up with tears in her eyes and said that during the blessing she had her eyes closed but could see the Lord standing before her beckoning to her. She went home and the next morning called the sisters over and told them there was one part of the blessing that would not leave her mind. It was that the Lord wanted her to act in order to receive the blessings promised in the blessing and it was constantly weighing on her heart and on her mind. The sisters asked her how she thought she needed to act. She said she didn't know, but knew she needed to do something. Then the sisters told her, "Maki if the Lord was beckoning unto you and he is calling for you, the way to enter in that path to return to him is through being baptized." She just grabbed one of the sisters and started shaking her kind of and said "Is that what he is trying to tell me?!" The spirit told her it was and she set set a baptismal date with the sisters for January 29th. She is still so nervous about the Word of Wisdom and keeping the commandments and coming to church every week but she said she knows it is what she needs to do and she knows it what what she needs to do for her two children. It was the most humbling experience for me that I could be a vessel and a conduit. I thought after I left Kawagoe that that was it. But the Lord still had work for me to do with Maki. Please pray for her that she can overcome her addictions! Pray that she can have the strength to reach her date! I am praying so hard for her! 

     Also, we met with our main other investigator - Shohei - this last week and we had a 3 HOUR lesson. It was crazy. I will not write a 10 page essay - sorry this is long so I will cut it short. But it reached a point where I said "Shohei, what is more important for you? Your happiness and getting an answer, or your studies?" And he said, "Elders, that is where you don't get it. I don't care if I am happy, that doesn't matter to me. I just want to make everyone around me feel joy." And we told him he reminded us of Jesus Christ. He wanted the same thing. He was taken aback by that one. Then we said, that is exactly why we share this message. Because this book, the Book of Mormon and the message it contains, brings others happiness. Then he said, "Wait. So if I read this book, get a spirit witness of its truth, get baptized, and share this message, the people around me will find more joy than from anything else?" "Yes!", we said. Then we were able to set a baptismal date for January 29th and he wants to receive that witness now. So awesome! The work goes on! Please pray for Shohei that he can get his answer! 

     Last miracle, this one was so powerful for me too. As most all of you know, I have now had 3 MRI's and 3 results for my hip with no answer. It has been so frustrating and hard. It hurts. I cannot run or play any sports and honestly I hate it. But I truly know it is the Lord's will at this time. I am not worried. It will all work out. That is my testimony. And last night I shared that testimony with all of the YSA's at this member's house after we ate dinner together. It did not feel super special to me in the moment. I just felt I should share it and I felt the spirit, but afterwards this young man, a YSA I love whose name is David (He is half Japanese half Brazilians and is fluent in English, Japanese, and Portuguese) came up to me crying and told me, "Elder Aiken, you just answered my prayer. I came home early from my mission because of a bad knee injury I had and it was so hard. I felt judged and I didn't want to go to church anymore. I felt like people didnt want to talk to me and I didnt want to talk to them. Two days ago I went to the temple and pled with the Lord and poured out my heart unto him but I felt like I did not get an answer. I got it tonight. Thank you so much!" He just hugged me and just cried on my shoulder for like 5 minutes and everyone was just watching. It was so powerful to me. I will never complain about my hip again. I truly am but a vessel of the Lord. We can all be the angels sent by God in someone else's conversion story.

     Have a great week!

Love, 
Elder Trevor Aiken