May Day is Lei Day...
Aloha Kakahiaka ko'u mau hoa,
Hau'oli lā Mei, It's May first and that means Lei Day... well it does if you in Hawaii nei at least. Rock those Aloha shirts and slippers and wear that papale with your Lei.
We didn't really have a whole lot out of the ordinary this past week. We had a whole bunch of lessons every day and made sure to do our studies.
Updates/Fun Moments:
- I sat down to start my personal study, clicked my G2 pen and the ink exploded. The pen went from full to empty in a second. Thought I got a regular G2 pen but it turned into the new one time use G2 fountain pen. Haha luckily it only got over my paper, desk, hands and not my white shirt.
- We finished a lesson with a Papi and he gave us eight packages of oeros and a couple cans of pringles because some had given him a case and he couldn't finish it all. Me and Elder Neilson and the other Elders in the house were so happy. It made our day.
- Had a little Kanikapila session at the chapel on Friday night for a ward activity. It was pretty fun and a few of our friends came.
The back story for the cookies was we got the recipe from the other Elders, went to the store to get the ingredients and realized that it was gonna cost quite a bit because of all the stuff. As I was looking between Vanilla extract and Vanilla Sugar I looked over to the left and realized they had some Betty Crockers pre-packaged mix. We put back all the ingredients we had accumulated and were stoked. The cookies came out amazing. 10/10 recommend Aunty Betty's recipe.
- The Elders in the house have also learned that I sleep like my dad or a rock! Once I'm out I'm out. There was a couple nights where my companion got up and threw up a couple times took a shower and was making a whole bunch of noise and woke everyone else up but me. The next morning I was just like, wow I slept amazing last night and everyone else was just like "Elder Ellis how do you sleep through everything".
The trick really is to just work work work so by the time you touch your bed you out. Elder Neilson also finds it funny because every night after our prayers I get into bed and the first thing I say is, "I've missed you (to my bed) then goodnight Elder see ya in the morning" then I'm out!
Friends:
- We have one friend who has been progressing so much in thr gospel every time that we see her. Her testimony has flourished through the past couple months and it's nice to see her at church and ward activities and truly taking an interest in the church. What had first started off as a interest when we first knocked on her door has turned into a desire and yearning for more each day. She has found so much peace and comfort in her life despite all of the storms that have hit her and her family. She has already shown some interest in being baptized and me and Elder Neilson are thinking of bringing up the question in the next couple weeks.
- We have another friend who also let us know that he has been reading The Book of Mormon and ended up praying about it and received a feeling that he knows it true and that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ. His girlfriend is a member and when we asked about the next steps for them both. He was quick to say "we need to keep going to church, read our scriptures and get married so I can get baptized". He also didn't show too much interest at first when we started the lessons but has started listening more intently and asking more questions each week.
- We've been teaching this older Mami and she's been praying a lot about baptism and a date for baptism. She loves the church, our ward and the knowledge that families can be together forever. She mentioned to her daughter a date she received when she prayed about baptism and the daughter mentioned how that was the same date she received and got baptized on. What a chance, she's going between that date and a couple other dates so we'll see.
Spiritual Thought:
In Helaman 5 Versé 32, it reads
English: "And behold the voice came again, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; and seek no more to destroy my servants. And it came to pass that the earth shook again, and the walls trembled."
French: "et voici, la voix se fit entendre de nouveau, disant : Repentez-vous, repentez-vous, car le royaume des cieux est proche ; et ne cherchez plus à faire périr mes serviteurs. Et il arriva que la terre trembla de nouveau, et les murs furent ébranlés."
Hawaiian: "Aia hoi, pae hou mai la ka leo, i ka i ana, E mihi oukou, e mihi oukou, no ka mea, ua kokoke mai ke aupuni o ka lani; a mai imi hou e pepehi i kaʻu mau kauwa. A eia kekahi, haalulu hou iho la ka honua, a naueue ae la na paia"
Tahitian: " ’E inaha, ’ua tae fa’ahou mai ra te reo, i te nā-’ō-ra’a mai ē : ’A tātarahapa ’outou, ’a tātarahapa ’outou, tē fātata mai nei ho’i te bāsileia o te ao ra ; ’e ’eiaha e tītau fa’ahou ’ia ha’amou i tō’u mau tāvini. ’E i muri a’era, ’ua ’āueue fa’ahou ihora te fenua, ’e ’ua ’āueue te mau papa’i fare. "
And the lyrics of one of my favorite Tahitian songs - Himene Tatarahapa
" No 'oe e to'u nuna'a teie himene
Tapao no to'u aroha ia 'oe
Eiaha e fa'aea
Te tiaturi te Atua
Nana e arata'i ia 'oe
I roto i teie ao
A tatarahapa, a tatarahapa
Te fatata maira ho'i
Te batireia o teie ao
'Ore ho'i 'outou i 'ite i te hora
E ho'i mai ai to tatou Fatu"
Simplement the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. This day is the day for men to prepare to meet God. We must continue in good works that we might be able to stand in front of him at the last day with a knowledge that we tried our best.
Faaitoito, (Good luck) hope to hear from you sometime! Happy May Day and may every day be an Aloha Friday!
"Vents favorables et mer suivants"
"Mata'i haumaru e moana mania"
"Fair winds and following seas"
Ua here au ia 'oe,
Elder Ellis
Link to my Google Photo's album. Go check um, go check um, go!:
