The Spirit of God!

Darling Sara!

     Hello all! How are you doing on this amazing day!:) This glimpse in the eyes of eternity day. Cherish it. Because glimpses pass by and they don't come back again:) 

     It was such a good week! Our investigator Vincent is doing so well! He told us in our lesson yesterday that he was choosing between a few colleges to go to and was uncertain about TIU (the college he chose) because of its long commute. But he said that he knows now that he picked the right school because God allowed him to meet us there and he found a new path for his life. How awesome is that! Then he prayed for the first time with us in our second lesson and it was so good! He thanked God that he was about to find his new family (us) and that he found this new path. He then said the rest in Chinese so he could say what was clearly in his heart He then committed to pray every morning and night and to meet twice a week. We are so excited to move forward with him! So prepared!! 

     Also this week, we had a zone blitz where we all went and worked in one area with the missionaries and we went to Kawagoe so that was so fun to be back there. I got to go on a split in Kawagoe on Wednesday as well and I got to meet Elder Clark! He is an elder who completed his mission when I was transfer 3 but we both served in Nagaoka and Kawagoe and we have become good friends. I got to have lunch with him and it honestly felt like I have known him for years. It was so fun to meet him. I have some pics of that. 

     Then I got to visit Watanabe kyoudai, my old ward mission leader in Kawagoe and he gave me Plum juice that he had been preparing for a year! It was sooo good! He gave me a big bottle of concentrate so I have been gobbling that up all day haha. 

     We had Fukunaga Shimai's wedding on Saturday! Literally love them! So funny. She married Han kyoudai who is a 2 year recent convert who is such an amazing convert and he is from China. He is so awesome. The other elders said that will be me in 3 months.. I will give it 4 years! 

     Today I wanted to talk about who we are. I have talked about it before but how quick are we to forget the Lord our God and who we are in the whole scheme of things. Why do we forget who we are? As I read the New Testament this week, and a scripture I read I didn't fully understand or click with super powerfully because I would read over it to last verse of this amazing chapter from Paul. 

1 Corinthians 13

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

     When we look at our potential and true identity in this life through our mortal eyes it truly is like looking through dark glass. Tinted windows if you will (That way whenever you look into the tinted windows on your car this may be brought to your remembrance and you will remember who you are). We literally have NO CLUE who we are. We have NO CLUE who we can become. But one day we will see Him face to face... and we will know ourselves as WE ARE KNOWN. We will know ourselves as He knows us. You are amazing! You are all beautifully perfect in the perfect eyes of our Father! That is something to be excited about!:) something to keep us going in the hard days! When we forget -- this is important -- that is when trials get hard, and we turn angry, frustrated or sad. Our internal struggle then projects on those around us and we close ourselves off, or rub off on everyone else. Why? We do not have the Holy Ghost. 

     "If you are not doing what the Lord would have you do, you cannot believe in yourself." Why? We lack The Holy Ghost! If you are not living a life that is worthy of and inviting the Spirit you will never have confidence. Why? Because you cut your tie to the veil. You cut your one reminding voice that keeps you from complete memory loss of who you once were. How stupid we are!

     "There is nothing more important in life than to have the Spirit of God. The gift of the Holy Ghost is the greatest gift available to mankind in this life. It is the power by which men are sanctified and changed to become like God. It is the fountain and the only source of power, light, intelligence, hope, love, joy, peace, comfort, knowledge, confidence, clarity and every other good gift. In this life there is no prize of greater worth, there is no gem of greater value, there is no vault that guards a more valuable possession. All of the wealth of the world combined is dust and dirt in comparison to this supernal gift made available to every last woman, man and child who is obedient to the laws and ordinances of the gospel." 

     "Consequently, there is no greater loss and there is no man so poor as the man without the Spirit of the Holy Ghost. There is no darkness so dark, as for the man who once enlightened, offends the Spirit and is then left to himself. (See D&C 121:38) 

     "How foolish! How stupid! How sad, to have the prize of prizes, the riches of riches, and then trade it away for smoke and mirrors, and baubles and beads on the gaming table of life! Why do we trade the one thing we literally cannot go without in order to develop our soul and character for the things of the world."

     I am not just talking about when we sin, it can just be when we let anger or contention enter our lives and the spirit departs from us so cut our tie through the veil and we forget who we are and we struggle. But regarding sin, honestly if a trial hits when we are not manning the ship how we have been taught, yes we will be tossed. Then because of the frustration that we have been tossed, we forget who we are and who God is to us. Then we lose the Spirit... the gift of all gifts. Our one saving voice from complete memory loss. The same voice that if lost can cause language loss, as were taught in Conference. 

     Parents everywhere, I know as teenagers we get mood swings and have problems but looking back almost every time I was grumpy, angry, or upset, I would say it is because I didn't have the Spirit - because I wasn't living worthy of it or I forgot who I was. Please never let us forget who we are! 

     Please just remember who you are! Look at yourself in a glass, darkly, and find what you can do to see yourself more clearly. In other words, find how you can live a life more fully with the companionship of the Spirit. Your tether to Heaven's Heights. To a Celestial memory. Then will you find confidence in yourself and your life. Then you will not have to look at yourself horizontally through the dark glass of the world, but you will look up and see yourself vertically into the Heavens. A son or daughter of God. I love you all!

     Have an amazing week. It is a simple message. But so is the gospel. The message is how to find joy:) go find it!!:) 

Have a great week!

Love, Elder Trevor Aiken

Week 101!

English class!

     This week had so much go down!! Let's see, we had two new investigators come through and they are amazing!! Rodrigo and Vincent. Rodrigo is half Japanese/half Brazilian but he is fluent in Japanese, pretty good at English, and pretty good at Portuguese. He is awesome. Vincent is from Taiwan and is fluent at English so we teach in English. We asked him to pray to know if god was there and he did.. and he knows! He got his answer on his very first prayer and he wants to keep learning and meet again this next week. So ready! So prepared! 

     The cutest Japanese family that comes to our English class comes up to me every week and says "Aiken Sensei! Aiken Sensei!" (Teacher Aiken) The kids are 4 and 9. Cutest ever. The daughter's name is Sara and she is the cutest kid in my life!

     I spoke in Japanese at Stake Conference in front of everyone this week - so scary. Also, we had Elder Choi come and speak to our mission which was so good. He is so funny. A lot changed after he came. 

     Temple pdays are every other transfer now so sadly my days in the Tokyo temple are over. I will not get to go on this my last transfer. That was a very heartfelt saddened prayer last night for sure. Then missionaries will no longer give their 5 minute goodbye testimonies to their zone in their last zone conference because of time. That was hard for me because I wanted to bear that final witness to everyone of how my mission has changed me, especially to young missionaries but that is ok! Another prayer, another confirmation that rules are not my will but God's:) 

     We went up to a college this week and it was unreal. We got to be around nearly 500 hundred students! So many youth! We would talk to 3-4 and others would just come over wanting to see who these white kids were and we got to talk to a ton of sweet young men and women. 

     We joined a volleyball circle on the team, so mom please let's pray that some of your talent slipped it's way through the gene pool because I need it this week! Also, we met the Football club. They are rolling with 9 players! College football is literally like sophomores in High school in America haha. But afterwards, we went and stood by the train tracks on this intersection before the station where three roads meet that are connected to three different colleges. So literally eight or nine hundred kids walked by us as we gave fliers and we probably gave out 400 hundred! It was amazing!! Hopefully we get some new students. 

     But once we finished we saw another very small reason besides the many other miracles of why we were meant to be there. We saw this kid, Seya, who literally just looked like he was at the end of his rope. He did not want to live anymore and was ready to give up. He could barely walk. He made it to the train platform and we just ended our Kubarikai (flyer hand out session whatever they say in English) and followed him to the platform where he just collapsed onto the floor. No one helped him up so of course we did and he could not stand up. He had just driven 6 hours from his home town because he moved down here and got a job to live close to his girlfriend who begged him to come down. The day he got there (the same day we saw him) she broke up with him. Sooooooo messed up. Then as we were talking to him she walked by talking to other guys and he told us that it was her. It was so sad. He said he did not have enough money to go back home and he already signed on to the job down here so he had to stay, away from his family, but without that girl. He was heartbroken. He was going to end his life he had told us until we had come up and talked with him for about 30 minutes and cheered him a little and gave him hope to see that there is so much more than the trials of this life. 

     This experience brought to my memory of the story of President Spencer W. Kimball. Which is my message this week! 

     President Spencer W. Kimball urged Latter-day Saints to engage in “simple acts of service” that would bless others’ lives as well as their own. He often found opportunities to offer such service himself, as the following account shows:

     “A young mother on an overnight flight with a two-year-old daughter was stranded by bad weather in Chicago airport without food or clean clothing for the child and without money. She was … pregnant and threatened with miscarriage, so she was under doctor’s instructions not to carry the child unless it was essential. Hour after hour she stood in one line after another, trying to get a flight to Michigan. The terminal was noisy, full of tired, frustrated, grumpy passengers, and she heard critical references to her crying child and to her sliding her child along the floor with her foot as the line moved forward. No one offered to help with the soaked, hungry, exhausted child.

     “Then, the woman later reported, ‘someone came towards us and with a kindly smile said, “Is there something I could do to help you?” With a grateful sigh I accepted his offer. He lifted my sobbing little daughter from the cold floor and lovingly held her to him while he patted her gently on the back. He asked if she could chew a piece of gum. When she was settled down, he carried her with him and said something kindly to the others in the line ahead of me, about how I needed their help. They seemed to agree and then he went up to the ticket counter [at the front of the line] and made arrangements with the clerk for me to be put on a flight leaving shortly. He walked with us to a bench, where we chatted a moment, until he was assured that I would be fine. He went on his way. About a week later I saw a picture of Apostle Spencer W. Kimball and recognized him as the stranger in the airport.’”

Several years later, President Kimball received a letter that read, in part:

“Dear President Kimball:

     “I am a student at Brigham Young University. I have just returned from my mission in Munich, West Germany. I had a lovely mission and learned much. …

    “I was sitting in priesthood meeting last week, when a story was told of a loving service which you performed some twenty-one years ago in the Chicago airport. The story told of how you met a young pregnant mother with a … screaming child, in … distress, waiting in a long line for her tickets. She was threatening miscarriage and therefore couldn’t lift her child to comfort her. She had experienced four previous miscarriages, which gave added reason for the doctor’s orders not to bend or lift. “You comforted the crying child and explained the dilemma to the other passengers in line. This act of love took the strain and tension off my mother. I was born a few months later in Flint, Michigan. “I just want to thank you for your love. Thank you for your example!”

     You all know this story, but how many times do we overlook simple acts of service like this because we are on our phones or too caught up in our own lives! Or, sadly, how often are we the ones angry at the noisy family? We must be better. People only see the light of Christ in the love of Christ. It is just that simple. My plea is that we can allow those around us this week to see the Light of Christ in the Love of Christ. Isn't that how He did it? 

Have a great week!  

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken

Happy Easter!

He is Risen!

     Happy Easter!!!! How is everyone doing on this wonderful day in America (yesterday here)?? No one in Japan really knows what Easter means and honestly some members don't even really know. So many members came to church yesterday and didn't even know it was Easter which was heartbreaking for me. But still a great day! 

Saying goodbye to Elder Nielsen

     It was a fun week. We are trying so hard here to work with the youth of Japan and focus on that age group. Whether it is teaching the gospel, English, or changing the image of the church, because Christianity is not popular you could say for most people here. But we went to this college to talk to the kids and we find this futsol circle and they tell us they are playing on Thursday and they invite us to come. So we go on Thursday and this "little circle" was roughly 70 kids... and I am not even good at soccer so the pressure was on. Do you know how hard it is for us to try to be cool? We have not tried to be cool for like 2 years! We walk in, 3 white guys and one Japanese (but everyone thinks he is foreign because he is walking with us) and everyone looks at us. I mean everyone. They just eye us walking in and we are just trying to act cool like we have been there before. Everyone has jersey's and teams and stuff. I have never felt that awkward. It was bad. I forgot what it is like to just be casual and act cool and talk to people and all that jazz. But because we were the 4 outsiders they split us all up onto 4 separate teams which just put one little guppy with the sharks. So I had to prove myself... it was Trevolution time. Aiken for change time. I went sooo hard out there. I was all over the ball and the result.. one assist. Oh ya. I did it hahaha. It was way fun in the end and being white Americans they loved us at the end. And we are going back again next week. Funniest part is when we walk in and they all just go "Macho man macho man." Japanese people are small so when a white guy walks in it is like a body builder walking in.

     So after we finished soccer and I had that assist, feeling on top of the world people, we walk out and hit the streets to go teach our private English class at a member's home. We get about 20 minutes in with about 40 minutes to go and we are in the middle of nowhere enjoying the scenery, when with perfect convenience, my tire pops... for the 5 time I might add. But it pops and we were stranded so we start walking and call the member, get permission from President Nagano to get a ride with a priest age young man in the car, and she meets us and drove us to their house, had the class, and arranged for the Kakiki family to bring their massive bunch (eight kid family) to take our bikes to this shop and got it fixed. It was an emotional day. I am not as cool as I remember being before the mish;) 

     Then I spent all of Sunday setting up my final appointments with all of these members I wanted to visit one more time in the next few weeks before I go home and I hated that but it had to be done. Literally makes me sad thinking of going home. 

     But anyway, because it is Easter, I wanted to talk about being repentant daily!:) and not just from sin!! Actually more so from our daily shortcomings and mistakes. And I wanted to talk about it in a way that essential in our daily lives. It is giving an accounting of our day to the Lord every single night as we pray. How many of us give the Lord an accounting of we do each day? 

     Giving an accounting of your day each night in your prayers is a first step of repentance. It allows us to repent daily. We need to approach the throne of God each day and tell the Lord what we did that day. We need to repent of what we know we could have done better or the things we did that we know didn't make him proud. And if we do so humbly he will also open our eyes to things we needed to repent of that we didn't realize we did or didn't do. It allows us also to feel that needed guilt that leads to a change of heart, or even that needed confirmation that we made the Lord proud when we did do what was right so we know we are on the right track. I promise as you do so the Lord will open your eyes to opportunities you had that you did not realize; to serve someone who was in your path; a chance to testify to a friend that you did no take full advantage of; or maybe you did not see an opportunity to love someone who truly needed it that day. Even more so I testify that as you do so the Lord will open your eyes to the good you were able to do that day even when in your eyes it may have seemed like you didn't do much. We never know how much good we do, or how much good we can do! But as we repent daily we are given the gift of discernment and we can be given revelation and guidance to be able to open our spiritual eyes so that we can see everyone as our spiritual brothers and sisters. Then serving, testifying, and loving coming a whole lot easier. 

     This daily accountability helps us prepare to approach the throne each week at Sacrament. Rather than Saturday night or sadly even Sunday morning before the meeting starts. It allows us to feel His love every day. It allows us to be more repentant. "When a person has gone through the repentance process, the Savior does more than cleanse that person from sin. He also gives him or her new strength. That strengthening is essential for us to realize the purpose of the cleansing." Don't you love that??! I do! Will we ever fully comprehend the beauty, strength and blessings of the Atonement?? No! We will never realize all we receive from what our Savior gave. We can be strengthened each and every day as we are daily repentant as we are cleansed. Sometimes I think we forget the second half of that promise. We are not only made clean, but we are given greater strength to stay clean! Is that not a reason for our perfect brightness of hope??!:D 

     It is like working out. If we work out each day we will become stronger and it will become easier and more desired as we see our progress. We must be repentant daily. Because we are not enough as we are. We need the daily given strength of the atonement. Being just clean is not enough. "To be admitted to His presence, we must be more than clean. We must also be changed from a morally weak person who has sinned into a strong person with the strength to resist sin and the spiritual stature to dwell in the presence of God. That is what it means to be saved." To do as Elder Bednar said in conference. "Be worthy. Stay worthy." Then we can be purified even as he is pure. What a tender mercy to have that knowledge that we can! But what a greater tender mercy it would be for our brethren who don't know to know!! Wouldn't it??? 

     We have something to give! We have good tidings of great joy to share! And it does not have to be scary? Why? Because as we approach the Lord, give an accounting, and repent daily, he will open our eyes in the days or weeks to come to an opportunity to do so. If we ask for it! 

     I know this church is true. I know this is a gospel of steady improvement and eternal progression. May we ever progress, he cleansed, and strengthened, every single day.

Have a great week -

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken

61 strawberries!

All-you-can-eat strawberries!  Yes - I ate 61!

     Brothers and sisters! What an amazing week! The church is true! The church is true! We have a Savior Jesus Christ who can take all our pain, sorrows, and struggles away! Or rather, take the burden of them away. What a blessing to live in this these latter days! We have living prophets on the earth and they do speak the words of our Father! What a blessing! We have modern revelation to guide us through these difficult times. "Shall we not go on in so great a cause!? Courage my young friends, and on, on to the victory!" What joy fills my soul in the joy of this the Lord's gospel. What a great day to be alive to see the work of the Lord all around us:) 

     This week we had a lot of fun stuff go down! We went to an ALL YOU CAN EAT STRAWBERRY FARM... Do you even understand what I am saying people? ALL. YOU. CAN. EAT. For 30 minutes. I had 61! And they were unreal. I honestly had never had that good of a strawberry except one time in Germany. But that was one time. This was 61 consecutive times of pure joy. I almost cried. It was that real. Beautiful. 

I'm way in the back!

     Plus, I learned 2 Hip-Hop dance moves from this 12 year old less active girl in our ward who came to our Hula dance night. And I tell you what, I was looking pretty good on the dance floor... except for the fact that my dance skills have plummeted as a missionary. Nooot good! But it was way fun.

     Today was transfer day. For the first time in 13 months, 9 transfers, my companion is staying with me for more than one transfer! I am going to end my mission in Sakado with Elder Bloomfield! I am so happy! I am so grateful to the Lord for allowing me to finish in Sakado. Such a great blessing to me! We all woke up early and gathered as a zone in Urawa and took all of our calls together and it was so awesome. So fun. Everyone was freaking out. Then one of my ZL's got called to be assistant which was crazy. In his patriarchal blessing he was told he would be a district leader, a zone leader, and assistant, and it was fulfilled! Testimony builder! He had never told anyone that until today. I thought that was pretty cool. He was pretty emotional. But I can't believe I am on my last transfer and I know I need to work hard and be an example to the young missionaries here at the end. I will give my final testimony next week at ZC.  

     I love this work with all my heart. Greatest time ever. I can't believe I had to say goodbye to Elder Frazier. He is gone on Friday and I said goodbye today. That was way surreal for me... I could not believe it. So crazy. On my mission I went from a love and joy of knowing the gospel to a love and joy of sharing the gospel! 

     Have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Trevor Aiken

I'm "All in!"

     Hello all!  It was a great week! We saw half of Conference but it was sooo good! I am going to be ALL IN and STAND UP INSIDE for sure. I loooooovvee Conference!! It is like the supreme Bowl or a new movie coming out as a missionary - so good! 

     I can't believe it is already the last week of the transfer. Does anyone else feel like it just started? This week we saw miracles! Now I have talked a little about our Brazilian class where we teach Brazilians and Peruvians English every Saturday, but this week I will go a little more in depth. This week we had the Kawagoe Elders come up and help us teach because Elder Passos is Brazilian and he can translate for us. But after the lesson was over and we were casually talking to our students, one of them, Giovanna, comes up and just said she is amazed by the light we have with us every week and she said she wants to start taking the lessons and learn about our church and come to church on Sunday. Now I don't know if that is what Brazil is like every day but.. I liked it. I liked that moment. Good moment. 

She and her daughter came to church and a member David translated. What a great week! They go faster and faster. 

     My brother wrote me and said "Jesus is the Christ. He truly can redeem anyone...and that is what I miss. I miss running from person to person to tell them that their weight, their pain, and their loneliness can be taken from them." Oh how that rang true with me. I am getting more and more scared of that day when I will not get to put on this name tag and tell one more of these I love that it is going to be ok, that they have a Father in Heaven who loves them, and a Savior who can take away all of the pain. 

     It makes me think every day, what effect am I having on these my people? Then the thought from President David O. McKay always comes to my mind. "A man radiates what he is; and that radiation effects everyone he comes in contact with." I have held onto that so much in my mission. Who am I? What am I radiating? Love, happiness, hope? How am I positively effecting those around me? Who am I striving to be? Am I brightening even one person's day each day? I have been so blessed to have been born with the knowledge of who I truly am and I need to give everything because it is not fair for me to be blessed with that knowledge and keep it to myself. Please never miss a chance to show love. 

     Sorry to dive deep into that. I don't want to bring any one down! I am so happy here:) it is the best place on earth and God's hands are all over it:) today I want to talk about God's hands and His love for a minute.. or five 😬

     This week I was hit by the principle of Unity and being One. Honestly, as a missionary the importance is so constantly emphasized that sometimes it can become almost casual or "Ya I know, I know." "Unity again?  Ok. I'm ready, I'm ready." But the more I pondered on Unity I realized it truly may be the most powerful force in this gospel. Ever. Unity and being One can literally pull down the powers of Heaven. Why? Because it was this power that created the Heavens itself! And honestly when we are in perfect unity nothing can stop us from performing a great work. It is almost scary how powerful we can be. Going back to the beginning of the world, we see the power in acting as one. 

Genesis 11

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

     Acting United can literally bring Heaven to Earth and Earth to Heaven! The line between Telestial and Celestial becomes blurred. The Father himself said that "NOTHING will be refrained from them, which they have imagined to do." Nothing. He had to confound their language to stop them from reaching Heaven's heights. Nothing could have stopped them. And nothing did stop the unity of the people of the City of Enoch from reaching Heaven's heights. The difference being they were United with the Lord's will. They exemplified the unity of the Father and the Son. And the Holy Ghost as well. The Godhead. So United in purpose that many in the world cannot even distinguish them as separate beings! They always act as one. "When the Father created the earth, He did so 'by [His] Only Begotten' Son." When acting as one, worlds can be created. When divided.. houses can fall. Even Heaven's house. Sadly, we were there to witness that. 

     Unity in Latin means one. We are told that the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are one in Mosiah 15, on three occasions in 3rd Nephi, and again in Mormon 7. We see it in John and 1 John. And more in D&C. Their Unity is ever binding and unbreakable. Their unity is perfect to the point of fulfilling all righteousness in a perfect Plan of Happiness. Without the Father and the Son being One, the plan could not be accomplished to save God's children, as a Savior was needed to be perfectly aligned in His will and be about His business. (I think that is why they say it so much in the scriptures. To emphasize that it was essential to complete the plan. Not that they are one person.)

Furthermore, if we can be one with the Father and the Son we can access the power of that Plan. 

Romans 12

5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ...

     We must be one body as members of this church and be one with the Savior to be about in His business.  But what is the one environment that is ringing in my mind as we speak on a topic such as this? Should it not be on the one place that is meant to be an extension of Heaven on earth? The home. The family. A family built in unity with the Savior lives in a home edified, pulling down Heaven's heights. As if pulling down a home directly from the City of Enoch. Or raising one up unto it. 

     The companionship of the Father and the Son is just that. A Father and a son. Family. Their relationship and unity is meant to be directly implemented in our marriages, our families, and I will add, in the companionship of two missionaries sent to do the will of the Father in place of the Savior. If we are to do as the Savior would do we must have a relationship with the Father as the Savior had. Or at least as close to it as we can. When unified we can accomplish anything! Satan would do anything to stop it. Look around. We live in Telestial horizons full of divided continents, nations, states, communities, and sadly... homes. Satan divides the home, so he can divide the world. It all starts at home. It starts within our own families

     Again, in Preach My Gospel, it says that the home should be an extension of Heaven. But how can we perpetuate Heaven in our homes? Well, in my mind the home should be just how we picture what Heaven will be like when we enter after this life. Full of people waiting with open arms excited to see us. A place built off of the teachings of Christ. A place where the Spirit can dwell. Clean. A place of safety and rest. A place where we are not scared to be ourselves. A place of love, patience, learning, and growing. A place where everyone is one. A place where differences are overlooked. 

We are all different. Everyone has weaknesses and falls short of the Glory of God time and time again. But love does not have to weaken because of another person's weakness!! We love each other in weakness. The strength of our love should not be based on other's people's strengths. We love each other for our weaknesses! Because that is what makes us, us. Because we should not see each other as we are, but as we can become. 

     Sometimes it might be hard and discouraging. Especially from the results of others agency. But don't give up! "Quitting won't make you feel better. Stopping isn't the answer. Keep your eyes on the Horizon. Keep your eyes on the Savior. All you have to do is keep working." -Elder Christofferson. Never settle for mediocre. Average is the enemy of excellent. 

     We should see a Telestial world as one Celestial. We should see our families as Celestial. We should see and believe in ourselves and others, one day being Celestial. And then live with love to bring that Celestial horizon to shore. 

     To all missionaries in the field, always be unified with your companion every day! Be united as one with Christ. Do His will and give everything! It brings the blessings of Heaven and you will do the work of the Lord no matter what the visual results are at the end of the day. Be patient with them. You don't have to like everything they do but you do need to love them and see them through a parent's eyes!     Unlike in Genesis, the Lord will not confound your language but will rather give you the very words you should speak in he moment you should speak them. And treasure every day! 

     To married couples and families, please make your home an extension of Heaven. That does not mean being perfect, but it does mean trying a little harder to be more patient, more loving, not judging each other's actions or fighting (especially siblings Haha. I have been down that road), and communicating as openly as the Father and the Son. Daily! 

     But all of this perfect unity business is never found in coming unto each other. It is always found in coming unto Christ and meeting each other there. Humbly at His feet. We always stand at first and third base and He is at home plate. We can only come together by coming unto Him. Sorry that my thoughts his week are all over the place but my plea is just that we may be united as ONE in Christ as families, missionaries, members in our wards, etc. so that we may truly access Christ's atonement. At-one- ment. It was performed for the "one," but may I add that it was also performed so that we may be "one" with Christ. May we strive to live in Zion communities and have "Zion homes." On to Zion! May we ever be one! (Sorry I was all over the place but I thought Unity was pretty cool.)

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken