Happy Independence Day

- November 28, 2022

Aloha Kakou,

Hauoli la kuokoa and happy Hawaiian Independence Day. Aloha au I ku'u lahui. 'O ka' Aina o Hawai'i ku'u ku'oko'a. He lahui ku'oko'a ko'u. He la aka ku'oko'a au. Eia a'e no kakou. E kupa'a kakou ma hope o ka 'Aina. E welo mau loa ku'u hae aloha.

Started off the week by visiting a member on his motu or little island near Bora Bora. It was so nice to be on an island all alone, and he even let me drive the boat while heading out. We saw a few sharks and stingrays while we were chilling.

Splits:

We had two splits this week once with Elder Nelson on Thanksgiving day. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch of Saporro Ichiban and had 6 lessons after. On the way to one of the appointments we saw a dog get run over which was really sad. As we continued on some people started yelling at us because they thought we were the one's that hit the dog. I'm pretty sure if we hit the dog with the bikes that big dog would've been fine and we would've looked pretty bad. On Saturday I was on a split with Elder Yates and we taught four lessons and even had a short lesson with a Jéhovah Witness that bashed us awhile back.

Some fun things:

I got a flat tire while we were still a mile from the house and ended up riding back on just my rim. It was literally the longest bike ride ever. We were trying to find a little boy that we've been teaching and we finally found him rolling tires down the hill with a group of other kids. That same night we biked to our dinner appointment that was 5 miles away from our house and me and companion arm wrestled a naked boy. On Sunday I got wiped out... Well kinda, we were on our way to church and I had to sneeze. I ended up closing my eyes and squeezing both my brakes at the same time. I found my self facing the gravel in a few quick seconds. Luckily for me I even had a crowd of people watching... One of the members in the ward drives a school bus and picks up a third of the ward. They were stopped right behind us, and about 60 people saw me wipeout. We got to church, hand and knee bleeding and the left side of my navy pants know looking gray from the gravel. The only thing I heard that whole morning was, "Elder çava" and "Elder what happened?".

Thought for the week:

To understand something, you have to do something. We were just leaving a house and a guy stopped us and just started taking. He shared with us how he always felt so good and he felt something special when he saw the missionaries. We asked him if he had any questions or if he wanted to talk and he simply said that Church wasn't for him at the moment. He's in his thirties and once his parents died in his teens he started drinking and hasn't stopped since. He doesn't like drinking but it's the only thing that makes him forget and makes him feel happy and whole again. We shared a little thought about families and let him know that we know that God loves everyone and understands everyone's situation.

We're never truly alone and no matter where we are in life, or whatever you are doing God loves you. You're course heading might be a little off and you might find yourself way off course. But when the timing is right and you decide that you want to change he'll be right there to help you.