Gold Medal week!

     Hello everyone!  What a great week!  We got to watch the Sapporo Temple dedication which was amazing.  Many people will be changed from that experience!

     Also this week goes down as one of the most eventful!  There were 2 stories I want to share, and since it's the Olympic season we will talk in terms of medals.  First, the silver goes to an Elder I went on splits with.  (Sorry - no bronze)  We pulled up to this light and saw this young man we wanted to talk to but right as we pulled up it went green and he sped off without even seeing us. So the chase began. Not in a creepy way, but we were going the same way anyway so we thought ok we will talk to him at the next light. Then we start going down this big hill and my companion is road biking it while the kid is on the side walk and I am about 15 yards behind all of this just watching my companion try to catch up to this kid. Well the kid swerves out into the road and my companion has to slow down and he thinks, ok I will go on the sidewalk and he can take the road because he is going too slow. He sees an opening and goes for the sidewalk... Miscalculates and his front wheel hits the curb and it bends, breaks off, and he and the bike going flying forward. He goes over the handle bars, front flips, and while he is in mid air, he is now facing me (backwards) and we make eye contact as I just see this face, like "oh it's over man just leave me" type of thing, and he goes about 5 yards and lands with the bike right next to him. The bike is destroyed, but the miracle is is that he lived! He was basically unfazed! His elbow was a little scraped, but this Elder is interesting in the way that he wears long sleeves even in the dead of summer, so because of that he wears gloves so he doesn't get a hand tan.  And that turned out to be a tender mercy because his gloves and his sleeves got shredded but his arms and hands were fine!  It was seriously wild up there, but he made it.  I have not seen slow motion like that in real life. 

     Now for the Gold medal!   It goes to one of the most powerful miracles and experiences I have had on my mission. Remember Maki Tanaka I wrote about last week?? We had an amazing lesson with her on Thursday and it was so powerful. We had two members present and they were so powerful! The spirit was strong and amazing. It went for like 2 hours!! She had so many questions and the spirit was so strong I was not stopping this one. Plus the members were so hyped. We taught that God is our Heavenly Father and we taught her how she can know it was true. Prayer. We challenged her to pray and we went home that night and prayed with all of our hearts that she could receive an answer to her prayer. She really wanted to and was so excited to try. She had such a sincere desire to know and she opened up to us about some really hard trials in her life right now. She wanted to know. The following night I wanted to call her and to thank her for coming to the lesson on Thursday just to show love and have daily contact and so the feelings of the lesson would not diminish I guess. But I just felt that I should call her. I did not think she would have prayed yet because we had the lesson the night before at the end of the night. So I called and she is just way happy on the phone as usual and I thank her so much for the day before and she says, "no, thank you", and then she says, "Elder Aiken I tried praying." It caught me off guard, but I asked her how it went.   (This is all in Japanese of course). She went on to tell me, "At two in the morning I went into my room. I was up for hours thinking about he message you taught and I did not know if it was true. I had some doubts. So I went and kneeled at my bedside at 2 in the morning and I prayed. I asked Heavenly Father, Are you there? Is this true? And then.. I heard the words, truly heard, "Watashi no tokoro ni kinasai." I opened my eyes because I was certain there would be someone in the room but I could see no one in the room. Elder Aiken, God just spoke to me." "Watashi no tokoro ni kinasai" in English means "Come unto me." The Lord spoke to Maki Tanaka in answer to her prayer and told her to "Come Unto Him!" It was literally one of the most powerful experiences I have faced on my mission. It was such an amazing thing to witness the glory and love of our Father in Heaven. He does answer prayers! He does speak to us in these latter days! He is there! This church is true! And now Maki Tanaka knows that! Sure she still has some trials to overcome and some things to beat, but now she knows. She knows the Lord knows, and she cannot deny it. That is what she told me. It was crazy! It was like a movie! I love this gospel! I love the Lord!  I hope that lifted your Faith because it did mine. I definitely like the Gold medal this week. But Please submit your votes to Trevor.aiken@myldsmail.net ok! Haha sorry I am just so happy! Have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Aiken

Week 66!

     Week 66 was an awesome week! It started off with faith and hard work and a desire to see miracles of course!! 

     On Wednesday we came together as a zone at zone conference and we knelt together, 22 missionaries, in prayer. We prayed to see baptisms this transfer and prayed to know how many we felt that we could see in the next month. It was so powerful to see 21 servants of the Lord with such a strong desire to serve our Savior kneel with me in prayer. The spirit was so strong. We set a range goal to see 18-24 baptisms and immediately got to work to see it. It was so awesome. I prayed to Heavenly Father and just told Him I would give him 24 hours of faith. Just 24 hours of pure faith that we would see miracles. Then when the 24 hours ended, I started again.. And again.. And it still continues. It led us to two new investigators and we had an amazing baptism yesterday with our investigator Mizuguchi! 

     He was baptized by the bishop of our ward. So awesome! He had such a desire to change his life. He just told us that he wanted a new life and fresh start. He wanted to feel forgiven and clean. He was so saddened and disappointed by the choices he had made in his past life. He has tattoos all over his arms chest and back so he always wears a black long sleeve shirt so no one will judge him. He was very hesitant to be baptized with other people watching, but he finally agreed and said it would be ok. He was baptized and he was so happy. He told us the tattoos were obviously still there but all of the decisions he had made felt like they were washed away. It was great.

     A huge miracle came of it as well. In our mission, as you probably know, we have our area books on our iPads. It is all digital. So the other day we went and synced our iPad and all of a sudden there were around 250 people in there from the sisters old area book because there are no sisters in our area. There has not been for 2 years so all of these people had not been taught in 2 years. So we needed to find out who had interest and who didn't because now our area book was huge and unorganized. So we decided to start calling and invite people to the baptism. We called a woman named Maki Tanaka. She was so nice and I invited her to come to the baptism and she said her really good friend was actually a member in a neighboring ward and she had gone to her baptism 3 years ago but never went back to the church since. She was hesitant but said she might come... and she did! And she had a great experience. All of the sisters in the ward just went and fellowshipped her so well!! Maki was so nice and acted so natural in the church though that they thought she was already a member at first. But I asked her how she felt and she said she felt so happy. I tried to explain to her that there are moments in our lives when we feel a joy we do not understand. Like when we look at beautiful view or scenery. Or when we hold a new born child for the first time. Or when we see someone get baptized. I told her that in those beautiful moments, that feeling of joy or peace is Heavenly Father touching our hearts through his spirit, trying to let us know He is there. That there is something more out there. That He loves us. It really clicked with her. Then she asked me, "But why does everyone here seem so happy all the time and why are they always so nice to me. They always show love. Even when I visited the other ward three years ago. I want to know what you have that I am missing." I asked her if we could teach her about that very thing and she was so excited! She said, absolutely! I have work off all week can I come to the church and learn at 6 o'clock on Thursday! I said of course you can! She was fellowshipped so well by two sisters who came up after to me they want to teach her with us really badly and Maki wanted them there as well. I told Maki that one of the sisters cannot do it this week though and Maki said, oh that is fine I can meet the following week on Wednesday at the church as well. Can she be there then?  I said absolutely and testified of the blessings this message contains. She just stood there almost dumfounded. "Elder Aiken I do not know why, but I just believe the words you say. I do not know why but I just feel that they are true. I just believe them." I was so humbled to see the power of the Lord and His spirit working on someone who had not had contact with the missionaries for 2 years! Almost every time in those situations they have forgotten the missionaries or have no interest here in Japan. The Lord prepares the hearts of his children every day! 

     God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is unchanging. But, "If ye have imagined up unto yourselves a God who doth vary, and in whom there is a shadow of changing, then ye have imagined unto yourselves a God who is not a god of miracles." - Mormon 9:10. God is a God of miracles! He is always revealing himself to us in our lives. His hand is ever open just waiting for us to take it. Never give up! He is always there and help is always on the way! He will send his angels round about you to lift you up! So keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever. I cannot give up or lower my faith because I know there is something great that awaits me every day I don't. This gospel carries me. Remember, remember The gospel is not weight; it is wings. It carries over the trials and sorrows of this life. Let it carry you! Let it be your wings. It forever is mine. 

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken

HOT...HOT...HOT!

     How are you all doing?? I am doing... Good! This week was rough at first leaving my last area and everyone I have come to love. But I walked into Kawagoe and I thought the only way to overcome that feeling was just to get to work. I am working in the hottest prefecture in all of Japan. The single hottest city in Japan is one of the neighboring areas to mine in my mission.  It varies from about 85 to 105 with 100% humidity everyday and there is no wind. It is seriously like death valley. I would show a picture of how much I sweat out here but my dignity holds me back. But I have lost 2 kilos since I have been here and I love it! My backside is evidence of the heat!

     I am back to the straight countryside again, no more Tokyo city life. There definitely is not millions of people outside. You will be lucky to see about 10 or 15 people on a one hour bike ride on the largest road in my area. It is straight hills. Straight hills. Straight hills. I was feeling a bit nervous leaving my home in Adachi, so I just begged the Lord that if I was diligent and worked hard every second to help that feeling go away. And he did!! With miracles!!!!! 

     I do not have a ton of time, so I do not have a big spiritual thought this week so I will send miracles. The first was the second day I got here.  I told my companion that we were going to give it everything we had today. To ride as hard as we could so that we could get to the places that actually had people and walk around finding there so we did not spend so much time where there are no people (though I will say, going down these countryside roads for an hour is a great time to think.  IT is beautiful!) So we went hard all day. Just finding all day. 

     I came and the area did not have many investigators. We went to this Eki and found for a little bit and found a new investigator Suman from Nepal! We will meet with him on Tuesday. Then after that!! No one had interest for about 4 hours at 3 different locations... So we went to leave and we were looking for a 7/11 to grab dinner because we were so far from the apartment and we went down the side roads, had no idea where we were going really, and then there is this park... And there is one man... With an AMERICAN FOOTBALL IN HAND AND AN OFFICIAL RIDDELL COLLEGE FOOTBALL HELMET ON!! Do you know how rare that is! I thought a Satellite had hit Japan. I thought a great white had finally learned to walk on Land. I thought the Dolphins just won the Super Bowl. It was like BYU just beat Alabama. It was like I was finally my dream 6'4 playing for BYU. I hauled at that guy. I went and talked to him and he was hyped. He told me he plays receiver for a semi-pro league in Japan and that he has been to America a few times. He asked where I was from and I said Utah and he goes oh really! "Ya the U of U and BYU are two really strong prestigious progra".... Like what? In English this was said I might add. He asks, doesn't BYU's senior quarterback have a good chance for the Heisman this year. I was just blown away at his knowledge it was like I found my best friend in Japan! I told him I went to BYU and he asked me "isn't that a Christian schoo"? I told him it was and that as Christian volunteers we teach the same message that that school supports. He told us he actually had a high school friend who was Mormon and served a mission!! We told him that we would love to share the message with him that he friend shared as well and invited him to church and he goes "This is awesome! Can I come next Sunday with my girlfriend?" Um... Yes!!! So amazing!!! 

     Then on Saturday Night we were planning for Sunday morning and it came to referrals and we honestly thought to put none because of how our day looked, but I said no let's go for one. We did not know how it was going to happen, maybe as I went on that first Sunday and got to meet the members for the first time, that they would give us one a we showed that love. But right before church a member comes up to us and says there is someone on the church phone can you talk to him. I told her that my Japanese is probably worse than hers. She said no he is speaking English. We went and the man said "Hey my name is Chris. I am a return missionary member from the Philippines. I have a referral for you. She is a Philippina. We will be at the church at 3 o'clock." I was like no way... They came at 3 together, we gave her a church tour, taught her in the Chapel and she said she felt so relaxed and felt such peace in that room. She said she wants to feel this feeling more and wants to be taught. She wants to find the truth and she has been looking. We will teach her and her sister from now on every week!! And Chris will come to every lesson as well and teach with us!!! There are a few more but it would be long. I want to close just with some cool stats because I love stats!!

     The first missionaries  that came to Japan came on on August 12th, 1901. They saw 27 baptisms in the First 24. Because of this missionaries were taken out of Japan until after World War 2. But in those next 78 years Japan has gained 3 temples, 8 stakes, 13 districts. 128,000 members. It's fantastic! And there can be more. President Eyring gave a prophesy about Japan. In that prophesy he promised that people would line up to be baptized in front of our church. All of those blessings are contingent on one thing. The people in Japan changing their hearts. He did not say Japanese people, he said the people in Japan. In our stake alone, 40% of the baptisms are not Japanese. People's hearts are already changing. The Sapporo Temple is a great example of that. Did you know that there is no gate around the temple? People can walk the grounds 24/7. Anytime. Everyone in that area has seen the temple in person or on a card and want to know what it is. His prophesy is being fulfilled little by little. The hearts in Sapporo are changing little by little and they are changing here as well. 

     I know in time that Japan will change, but it will take time. I saw these stats and I also thought, have our hearts changed about missionary work in Utah? There are so many members all around us sometimes we feel like we do not need to do any. Or there is no need. Please let us be missionaries for all of our lives. Please find ways to share the gospel at home. Pray for opportunities!! Most importantly uplift the members around you and help them. You never know what they are going through or if their testimonies are struggling. Please take more heed to do home teaching. It is so crucial. My last area was kind of struggling with testimonies and lack of love shown to some members in the ward. They did not feel needed or wanted. A part of that was 11% home teaching complete each month. Please let us change our hearts. I am so excited to go home and be a different member at home! I am trying my best to do it here haha. I love you all and I hope you have the best week!!

Love,

Elder Aiken!

Leaving Adachi

     This week was an awesome week! Full of miracles! We went finding this week and found a young man named Akagi and asked if he wanted to learn about Jesus Christ and he said "yes" and wanted to meet that Thursday. We taught him in the middle of this park and taught about who God is and about prayer. We taught him that God loves him and wants to hear from him. We told him that he can pray to him any time and told him how God answers our prayers by touching our heart through happiness and peace. We asked him how he felt right then and he said he felt happiness and felt peace. We asked him why he thought he felt that way. He said he did not know but was so excited to hear the answer. We told him that was God's way of touching his heart through the spirit to tell him this was true. He was overcome and was so excited to think that God was speaking to him right then. He said he wanted to know that this was true and he really wanted to pray. He said he was going to pray and strive to receive his answer and that he wanted to meet again next Thursday! Such an awesome miracle! A miracle that the other elders will follow up with because finally I am transferring! I will miss my "family" in Adachi!  I love them all so much.

    I am going to Kawagoe in Saitama Ken. I am so excited to go there!  My new companion is Elder Rhea and we are exact opposites, but I am excited. There are something like 22 new Elders coming in after this next transfer. It is not Tokyo but still pretty big. It has about 100 members and a decent amount are pretty good at English.  I am officially transfer 10! Double digits! What happened!!?? The time is just gone. I mean for heaven sakes BYU Football is back in business. That doesn't make any sense. So crazy. 

     Today I wanted to talk about a spiritual thought that has been on my mind this past week as we have been working with some less actives and investigators.  I wanted to talk about putting on our spiritual armor of God. I have seen such a difference in my life when it has been on and off, and I have seen it ten times moreso in my mission with people I have met here and it breaks my heart to see it. When I write these blogs I am not writing it to a "congregation" so to speak. I am not writing these to a group. But rather I write these to assembled ones. I write these to individuals praying to touch one heart or help one person as I write these by the spirit, so I pray that I can! 

    When I talk about the armor of God I am specifically talking about reading and praying. We need to put on and keep on the armor of God and read and pray every day. When we take that armor off we leave ourselves vulnerable to the attacks of the adversary. But sometimes we feel like the armor is so heavy or that we just want to take it off for one day, it's fine. Or not even that we want to take it off but that we are just "too busy" or "too tired" to do it. But when we take off that armor and the adversary sends his fiery darts it is so much easier than we think to get injured. Sometimes when we get injured deeply through sin or trial, it is really hard to put that heavy armor back on because it hurts to put it on top of those wounds. I write this as a plea to those who have their armor on to keep it on, but even moreso to those who took it off and may have received wounds and it seems as though it is too painful to put the armor back on. It is painful to put it back on a fresh wound, it is is for everyone. But, Christ knows the wounds are painful, he knows that feeling perfectly. That is what the Atonement is there for. To heal those wounds. Not to repair us, but to restore us to our natural form. There are no remaining scars. Christ took those. He took the scars for us. Let Him heal you. Let Him restore you. He has restored me in a way that I cannot put into words. He continues to restore me. It humbles me to the depths of my soul EVERY DAY. I have come to see Him as He is. He is there. He will heal us. Every day. Never take off that armor! Put it on and please keep it on. Strive to get to the temple. Strive to always be worthy to partake of the Sacrament. Read and pray!

     Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Aiken

Week 59!

    What a week it has been! I cannot believe the week is gone again. The BYU Hawaii concert was amazing! So good. They were truly so talented. It brought me back to the good ole high school days.  And I cannot believe I am 20! Boy how that went fast. My brother Tanner wrote me a letter and said "I hope you enjoyed your teen years while they lasted." Haha shoot that was intense. It is just over. Kapeesh (I do not know how to spell that word but you know what I am trying to say). When I read that it left me with some time to reflect. I thought about my childhood and who I have become through my life and my mission. 

     That leads for my thought of the week! I thought of this quote which really hit me when I read it for the first time. "Kids are so happy in their youth when they are innocent because they have not learned to be depressed by focusing on the things they don't have." How true is that statement? A lot of times Christ says to become childlike in a more spiritual sense and also in the way we treat others, but I also think it is in that worldly sense as well. 

Member Dan Ito!

     As children we never realize what we do not have. But the world is built up today around a society that is so good at helping us see what we don't have, and what others do. Sometimes we are so ungrateful for what we have. It blows my mind how ungrateful I was at times before my mission. Sometimes I really do wish I could go back to being that little child where I thought I had the whole world in my hands. But I would never give up all that I have learned and the experiences I have had. I do not want to go back to the past; I want to go back to the past way of facing the future. I want to retain that old mindset and change my viewpoint on things. 

     I wanted to focus this letter just to talk about one of the millions of things that have humbled me to the dust for having in my life. My family. I am so blessed that I was born into the restored church of Jesus Christ. To know my Savior and the path I need to take to succeed in this life. Of the billions of people on earth did I deserve to be that lucky? Do we realize how blessed we are to have that knowledge? That is why I am most thankful for my family. Their decisions to follow the Savior and live by example has changed and saved my life.  Mom, Dad, Brock, Tanner, "I am trying to be voice for the very angels of heaven in thanking you for every good thing you have ever done, for every kind word you have ever said, for every sacrifice you have ever made in extending to someone--to anyone--(to me) the beauty and blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ." You have forever changed my life and I am forever grateful. My family has always provided for me physically and spiritually and to be frank, I have not been even a tenth as grateful as I should have been. The mission has changed me forever and my image of family. I love my family. I am not a little kid anymore, but I will always be a momma's boy, my dad will always be my biggest hero, and I will always be trying to be like my older brothers. That will never change. I love my family and I want to show my gratitude in more abundance now and always. Especially when I get home. 

     As President Uchtdorf said, "In family relationships, love is really spelled t-i-m-e, time." My family always have that to me. I love my family. I love this gospel. My father always gave me his time, and right now Heavenly Father has given me two years of his time. I need to give every second to Him. Please let us not focus on what we do not have but be grateful for what we do, and show that gratitude. The purpose of this life is joy. Not looking at others and trying to find out why they seem to have more. Get back to the past way of facing the future. Let us truly be childlike. Let us truly be Christlike. Let us look outward to others with an open hand. Not looking for it to filled, but to fill the loves of others. 

     Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken

Week 56!

With Elder Judd - a former classmate at Brighton High School!

     I cannot believe how fast time is going! We had a good week this week. Last week we went to the biggest mall in Asia and I was intense!! Holy cow it was huge! Blew my mind. There was even a Cold Stone...but I held strong.  Then we had Temple P-day! So that is why I am emailing today! I truthfully cannot describe the peace and joy I feel at the temple! I just cannot stop smiling. Everyone looks at me so weird. I am just so happy!! Through thick and thin I have found my Savior. Now on to the spiritual side!

The Adachi Trio!

     Today I wanted to talk about trials! A word, when looked at in a certain light, is viewed as a deterrent in our lives. It is viewed as something that weighs us down and something we all wish we did not have to face all the time. But, if we look at trials in a different light, the Light of Christ, we can see that trials are God's way of letting us access the Atonement. He will never send a trial we cannot face or a battle we cannot win. Absolutely they can hurt and humble us in every way, but that is the refiner's fire. It is a test of our faith. Many times in our life, in our hearts, seeds of faith are planted, but sometimes they are planted in deep soil and they do not receive the water they need to grow until a storm comes. Those storms give those seeds a chance to receive the growth that can turn into a certain knowledge where our faith can go dormant. I truly thank God every day for the storms he sends in my life, because my faith in our Savior, even Jesus the Christ, has grown into a sound knowledge. He suffered everything that we have and will suffer. He knows us. But sometimes, maybe we need to experience trials in order to know Him. Perhaps we need to experience the depths of mortality in order to understand Him. He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He chose to learn by His own personal experience. He chose to experience what we felt, because he has an undoubting love for us. He felt our pain. He knows our pain. Pain. Another word with a negative connotation, but "pain is a gauge of the healing process. It often teaches us patience. Perhaps that is why we use the term patient in referring to the sick." 

     In times of pain and trial, sometimes the only way we can make it is to endure. Empower our faith and patiently endure. Face the storm with our Savior and have the faith that He will calm it. Yes it hurts sometimes, but pain lowers you down to a level of humility that allows you to ponder. It brings us closer to the Father. I wanted to write a message of hope today. Never give up, never give in, and never give out. Hold strong! I know life can have hardship sometimes, sometimes all the time, but we can make it! Let these storms of life allow your seeds of faith to grow and set a foundation for our conversion on the Savior. Through these storms, let us stand on that Rock of a foundation and endure. Everyone has mountains to climb. You are not alone. You never will be. 

     Have the best week ever!

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken

Find the beauty in life!

    

     It has been a great week!! The trio fire is still building in Adachi. I have had two and four man apartments, but three apartments are the best. We are working so hard to find new investigators and those that are prepared. Our area has really reset recently. Our recent convert Ben had his grandma get a really bad infection in her leg and she is in such a serious condition that he returned to China to try and see her one last time before she passes and he will not return until next year. He was so devastated when he heard. He was so close to his grandma and the news really shook him. Also, Rose, who was just baptized is going to the Philippines next week for 2 weeks so she will be gone until next transfer, so hopefully I stay. But we are in need of some new people who are interested in learning. 

     The week finished off with some fun stuff for P-day today. We are going to Lake Town, the largest mall in all of Japan and probably Asia to be honest. It is way bigger than any mall I have seen in America. And usually everything in America dwarfs everything in Japan in size. But this is something else. There is just about anything you could think of there. Including a huge Disney store might I add. 

     I am just so happy. Every day is just amazing. Sure, maybe there are some hard days and some rough moments, but at the end of the day I can almost never remember them. I try to focus on the little miracles of every moment. Are we doing that enough?  Someone once said: "Do you take time to discover each day how beautiful your life can be? How long has it been since you watched the sun set? The departing rays kissing the clouds, trees, hills, and lowlands good night, sometimes tranquilly, sometimes with exuberant bursts of color and form. What of the wonder of a cloudless night when the Lord unveils the marvels of His heavens--the twinkling stars, the moonlight rays--to ignite our imagination with His greatness and glory? When last did you observe a tiny rosebud form? Each day it develops new and impressive character, more promise of beauty until it becomes a majestic rose." 

     Isn't this life amazing?? Isn't it wonderful?? We have glories all around us. I can still remember countless nights of my dad on the back porch calling my name, "Trev! Trev! come look at this Sunset! It's amazing." Or, "Trev! Trev! Come look at the stars! They are so beautiful tonight!" He truly showed me at a young age that this is a life where we can take a moment and see what truly matters. Take a moment and see the beauties that the Lord has given us. We are one of the noblest of God’s creations. His intent is that your life be gloriously beautiful regardless of your circumstances. He wants us to be happy! He wants our life to be beautiful and full of beautiful days! Sure, sadness, disappointment, and severe challenges are events in life, but they are not life itself. I hear so many people say "I have such a sad life." No... You have sadness in your life, but it is not your life. "I have such a hard life." No you don't! You have hardships in life, but it is not your life. The purpose of this life is joy! Find it!! It is there whether you want it to be or not. Sometimes we want to be a Debby downer, but I am sorry, we flat out cannot deny the beauties and glories of this life! No shot! This gospel is hope! This gospel is change. Please never give up. We can succeed! Our success is never measured by how strongly we are tempted but by how faithfully we respond. Let us rise up and dust ourselves off. Respond boldly to the temptations and powers the adversary sends to bring us down and stand tall. Find the beauties in your life. They are and will always be there!

     Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken