Week 20 - For Some Weird Reason

Dearest Mother:)

I am doing great! The best thing that happened huh? Well we have a family that came to church and is on baptismal date so that’s exciting. We love baptisms :) We are praying though that certain issues get resolved so keep praying because it helps so so so much! New investigators are pretty good too. We found 3 other families and currently are teaching them. 

The District is doing well! There’s a set of missionaries who have been struggling and this week they were able to reach the standard of excellance!! First time since about 4 months! Also me and Elder Ballif have been getting along really well now. I’ve been praying that we could somehow bond together and outta nowhere we have been.

Work sounds stressful. You have to balance your calling and Hevynn’s wedding and a new grand baby coming this week!!! I can’t wait to be an uncle again. Haha plus you have a very handsome missionary you write to every week so things can’t be easy for you. Know that I’m always praying for you! I didn’t know Bo was having surgery. I hope that he recovers! How are Faith and Dave? I was actually thinking about them the other day. Oh and I love the pics of Hendrix! haha I’m planning on making them one of my planner covers!

Oh so Helam is still tearing it up I see! Weber State is my number 1 team for now, so I’m always talking about WSU. In fact a ward member was asking why I talked about Weber State so much when they knew I was going to Stanford. I told them "My older brother is the Tight End there. He took the athleticism and height, but I got the good looks." For some weird reason they just laugh :(  Oh and I shot a letter to Coach Anderson.

Thank you for the Thermals mom!! And the money, dad, because I inherited a couple of bikes. But when I let one of the other companionships borrow it, it came back without a wheel or a seat. I kinda just sat there and wondered "Who the fetch would take only the seat and one tire?" I was more angry at the fact that they only took those than taking the whole bike. haha jk but yeah so now I’ll have to fix it. But tell dad thank you!! Tell him I love him so much and that people still won’t stop talking about him! Yeah it’s kinda annoying but whatcha gonna do?

So in my district there are about 6 missionaries. It’s a small district because we have a small zone. However it’s all good. It makes it a little easier on me haha! I’m still getting the hang of it and I should be polished and fine by the end of this transfer. Crazy thing is, I will have spent 6 months of my mission here in Columbus... haha I’ll probably be transferred out after this transfer. But the DL's here are me and Elder Pau'u. He’s from Santa Ana or OC area in California. He’s really cool and we always have jam sessions or we always be eating rice (which I should probably stop eating haha). But the work is still progressing and I am still working hard!

Oh and I sent the Card with all my pics and the videos sooo I have no pics to send currently... Sorry!

But before I go I’ll just share a scripture which is D&C 122:4

And although their influence shall cast thee into trouble, and into bars and walls, thou shalt be had in honor; and but for a small moment and thy voice shall be more terrible in the midst of thine enemies than the fierce lion, because of thy righteousness; and thy God shall stand by thee forever and ever.

Our afflictions and pains are just a small moment. Our trials and tribulations are for a split second. Then when we face those adversities head on, we gain strength from God. Our words, backed by the spirit, will literally shake people and nothing will stand against the power of God. So when people challenge your testimony or trials feel like they are too much to bear remember that it’s really only temporary. And we will come out even stronger in the end.

Love you mom and I hope things go great with the wedding and everyone at home!!

Oh and btw....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! You are what 21 now?;) haha mom just wanna say thank you for everything. You are the greatest and the #1 woman in my life! I hope that today is a wonderful Birthday and I’m sorry I didn’t record a happy bday message for ya :(  I made sure to get Hevynn’s done because she’d kill me if I didn’t. You? You love me no matter what. Harry better have made you breakfast or somethin’..... Anyways Happy Birthday and I love you!

Ofa Lahi Atu
Elder Heimuli

Week 19 - So This Week Was Rough

Hey family!!

Haha I saw the awesome costumes and just busted up!! Lil Nachooooo!! Hema and Norma and Hendrix are such a creative family!! I love it!!  

Oh and you and Harry look good lol. I can’t believe you were Pikachu!

I’m not surprised that Dad is now that grandpa who’s always giving $ to his grandkids.  Bahaha aww little Hendrix is just like Hevynn always getting money from Dad ;) haha And when Helam and Alyssa’s baby girl comes long, it will be the same with her. Yup, her, Hendrix and Hevynn, haha. Well tell Dad I love him! Oh haha so a guy in the other ward at the party said he knew Steve Kaufusi. I told him that Steve and my dad roomed together in college. Then he called Steve... and I talked with Steve. It just reminded me how much I miss Dad!

Speaking of Dad and football kinda sorta, Uncle Hema is Jonah’s coach huh? I wish I could be there to watch him play! I bet he is just tearing it up. I hope he appreciates having a dad who knows what he’s talking about. I know I do.

Weber lost to Eastern Washington by just one point? Darn... But Weber is doing a lot better so I’m happy that they are keeping up and having some success! That’s such a cool story about Alyssa meeting a family Helam knew on his mission. It goes to show the influence a missionary can have on families.

We went to our ward family Halloween parties and my costume was awesome (not).

So this week was rough. We had to drop all the baptismal dates. We had 5 now its 0. I want to make sure that they are progressing and coming to church. But they weren’t coming to church. so I had to tell them that if they aren’t willing to come to church, I can’t baptize them. Unlike other churches, baptism isn’t just for joining the congregation. It’s a sacred promise or covenant that should not be mocked. So until they are 100% willing to change and come to church then I can’t baptize them. It’s been pretty frustrating. Me and Ballif are still trying to figure out how to work together. But patience is what I need to exercise and I guarantee he’s doing the same. So this week the work was slow but it’s still going.

Transfers are tomorrow and I get to go for a District Leader Training. Elder Pau'u and I are the new DLs here in Columbus so we'll see how that goes. It’s crazy because now I actually have to think on my own and think for the district .... I don’t know sometimes.

Wow things are about to get hectic for you mom!! I’m happy to hear about Bruce. You’re right, he will be a great missionary. I know it. Hevynn’s getting married and you will finally have 3 kids who have been sealed in the temple! I hope everything goes well! And I will send out the little video for Hev:) It will be a good one I promise!!

Here’s my ponderizing scripture for the week. Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

It’s pretty cut and dry. We are not perfect, and we sure as heck don’t know everything. (Although as teens we thought we knew everything.) However God provides us with a way to gain knowledge, by studying scriptures, praying and following His commandments. I call it the Big 3 and I know that when we do these we gain knowledge in ways we didn’t think possible.

I know this week will be a very crazy week and you might not be able to enjoy your bday like you used too, but you’ll enjoy in a better and more fullfilling way!!! I wish I was home for all of the excitement with the new baby coming, your birthday, and the wedding, but I have responsibilities and people to help. I love you!

Ofa Lahi Atu

Elder Heimuli

Week 18 - Kind and Radiant

Hello Dearest Mother :)

So good news. I was able to baptize M! :) It was funny though because she left her baptism stuff at home so she went back to grab it. Satan decided to get one more punch in at that moment. M said she went back and her mom said, "Do you really want to be Mormon? There is no reason to do it!" Then M responded with, "No, mom. That’s why I’ve been going to church, meeting with the missionaries, reading the scriptures, all because I don’t want to be Mormon." Then she said her mom was speechless. Now she is the newest member of our church!!!

Elder Ballif, M and Elder Heimuli

Also another cool miracle this week! So T and her family have been getting pressure from the rest of their family. We answer all their questions but still her family is giving them a hard time especially her husband. However when we came over she said she has the support of her mother in law. I was surprised so I asked why and she told us a pretty cool story. She said, "When my mother in law was a young woman she was living alone in New Jersey with 2 kids. No one else was around to help her and no one cared. Then one day a pair of elders from the Mormon church came and helped her. She still remembers how kind and radiant they were. That’s why she totally supports me meeting with you guys."

At that moment, I felt God’s tender mercies, knowing that no matter what, our efforts to do good are never in vain. Giving service and just being a great person can affect families years down the road as we were able to witness with T.

Be good examples in everything you do. Speaking of good examples, I received another package from the Robinsons!!!! Oh I was so happy and I got to read even more testimonies and cool letters they sent me. I’m so grateful for them, so give them my love please!!

Letters in another package from the Robinsons!!

I had my interview with the mission president and he pretty much told me that I will be staying here to continue the work I’m doing, so that means I will spend 6 months of my mission here in my first area!! Crazy. But we will see what else will happen! What’s funny is that my area is almost the edge of our mission. So I’m stuck down here in the south and we have the smallest zone in our mission, but we also have the largest district! During District meeting I gave training on "how not to be depressed during your mission." I don’t know why…do I come off as a cheerful guy or something? The scripture or chapter I want to share is 2nd Nephi 4. I want you to read the whole chapter but verses 28-30 are the best ones.

28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.

29 Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions.

30 Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

To me it means there is no reason to be depressed! When we drop our heads and slack off in our duties it gives Satan room to work. But if we rejoice in Christ, and center our lives and our work on Him, the rock of of our salvation, we will be immovable.

I told M to read this chapter but I guess I accidentally said 1st Nephi and not 2nd Nephi so she was very confused! What kind of missionary…haha. We straightened that whole mess out though!

Anyways things are going well. It’s chilly here but I have some sweaters here so I’ll be good till probably December!! Oh, haha, I forgot to mention that Hendrix’s hair is hilarious!! Haha he should grow out his hair like that! 

Hendrix shares Bo's hair, just to try it out!

And I hope Helam is ready for Daddy time! He'll be great, just like Hema is. Tell Hevynn I miss her and I hope she feels better soon. And tell Harry good job on his talk. I taught him well. Haha.

Ofa Lahi Atu!
Elder Heimuli

From the Principal's Office

Received this surprise text and pic this morning -- a great break on a busy day. 

"This is David Clark, principal of CN High School. Elders Baliff and Heimuli gave the devotional to our football team this week. Thank you for allowing them to bless our lives!" 

Houston must have been in heaven to be with a football team again! #HesOnTheLordsTeamNow

Week 17 - Review the Covenants

Hi Mom!!!

Well you wanna know the best thing that happened this week huh? Well Elder Ballif and I are still working hard. This week we taught 45 lessons, have 4 people on date, and I've been working with 4 teenage non members who are super interested. So the work is picking up. However in order to stay on top of this work, WE have to work harder too!! Haha I've skipped lunch or dinner just so I can nap because I'm so exhausted. But I guess that's just how missionary work goes.

So this week we went on a campout!!! Haha yes I know I hated campouts in scouts but being able to do it again was nostalgic. The reason we went was because one of our investigators who was on date wanted to go but wouldn't go unless we went. So we asked president and he allowed
it. We were able to have some one on one time with him, and he started to read the Book of Mormon alot again. The camping trip was tons of fun!! But when Ballif and I got home we couldn't move. We were so tired and unfortunately didn't do much that day. So that's going to be our last camping trip.

THANK YOU for all of your prayers!!! M has found a job and is on track for baptism this week. She is excited and so are we :)

You have to be careful taking Harry to Frightmares because you're getting too old to do those things mom. It's good to hear Alyssa is doing well, I can't wait to see pics of that beautiful baby. I love seeing pics of Hendrix. That one of him eating baby Lakei's arm is hilarious. :) 

And on top of all that great stuff Weber beat North Dakota!!!! Whoohoo!! Weber better take a national championship. That means that 2 people in our family would have a ring haha! It's good to also hear Stanford is still doing good. Cool you got to meet Mason. He's a nice kid. I know I sound old when I say stuff like that. :) How's Mason doin? How are the Tate's? If you see them again please give them my love :)

Of course I'll send a video for Hevynn's wedding!! I'm so excited for them! I know things will get hectic but try to just enjoy it cuz it's all going to work out in the end. Just keep believing and having faith.

Elder Ballif is pretty cool. Of course it's weird adjusting to another companion after having Elder Freeman then Elder Briggs so he has some big shoes to fill. However like I said he doesn't lack in hard
work so we are always working and teaching.

Lua was baptized?! That's awesome!!!!! I'm happy for Beeba and her kids. You know baptism is the first gate to salvation. It's an important step in the right and ETERNAL direction. So I pray that they keep going to church and increase their knowledge about the Gospel because when we gain a better understanding of God's plan we appreciate baptism and ordinances so much more.

Here's a little scripture about baptism. Mosiah 18:10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

I love this question. Yeah, why shouldn't we want to be baptized? It's an If-Then statement. IF we keep His commandments and stay true to our covenants THEN He will pour out His blessings upon us. As a missionary I've realized most of my work is not actually about going around preaching and knocking doors. There are people who have been baptized but have forgotten that covenant. And when we forget to keep those covenants, God can't bless us. Too often here have I seen less active members who once had a testimony but now they have forgotten it and I think about how much better their lives could have been.

So as a challenge I want you guys to review the covenants you have made and see if you are following them. Are you keeping the sabbath day holy? Are you loving one another? Are you being honest with your fellow men? These are just a few of the commitments we promised to follow as followers of Christ. And if you are lacking in some areas, just pick 1 and work on it. If that's something like keeping the sabbath day holy then work on keeping it this week, and I promise you will see blessings.

Love you mom. I hope you are doing well!!

Ofa Lahi Atu
Elder Heimuli

Week 16 - Experiment

Hi Mom :)

Luckily our library is open on Columbus Day (maybe because our city is named after the guy. ;)) haha.... that was a lame joke...But aside from that, yes I did get the card (THANK YOU) and I've been exercising every morning (except sundays..Duh). It's been nice to finally get good workouts in. My day seems more relaxed and I feel more confident when I feel less fat. Haha. 

So I sent Hevynn a bday gift, it's not much, but I hope she enjoys it :)

I also hope that she had a fun birth-week (cuz we all know she drags it out for longer than just a birth-day). Full wedding mode!! Haha that's sooo crazy but sooo exciting. My sis is getting married. And someone's actually marrying Bo. I'm sad I'll be missing that but I am really pumped for them! They are a great couple and I love them. 

Seems like life is hectic and crazy, but that's not a bad thing. I've realized that our lives are hectic when we are accomplishing things! A nap is nice to have here and there but being busy is really a blessing from God. He's saying He trusts us enough to give us many responsibilities. So keep it up!

As for Leah, I'm sorry things didn't turn out as planned but we have to remember all of this is really not OUR plan. Just like you've said to me many times, we just have to keep working hard and having faith in God's plan. As long as our choices align as much as they can with God's will, I know Leah and the rest of us will be fine. She's still #1 in tennis to me!

No, I didn't get the football updates! I'm so pumped that Weber won:) Elder Hansen and I are always repping Weber State out here. However, I do have to say that I'm sad Utah and BYU won. Not very charitable, I know. :(  haha I know I shouldn't wish this but I hope they lose the rest of their games. And I hope Weber keeps winning theirs!! So there I probably just jinxed the wrong team.

So last week was crazy. Elder Briggs and I were teaching a Family that I found with a different Elder. We said a prayer and then we started walking to their house and we both thought jokingly, "Hey with all these people we can handout baptisms like Oprah does with random prizes. You get a free baptism, you get a free baptism, everyone gets free SALVATION!" Of course I'm kidding because feeling the spirit is as far from random as you can get. The spirit helped us teach a very solid lesson and invited T (Investigator) to baptism. She accepted. Then her sister in law K and little brother R were both listening in on the lesson and they said, "I want to be baptized too." I kind of stuttered because I was so surprised. I probably gave one of the most informal baptismal invites. I just opened my mouth and said, "So, you wanna be baptized too?" 
They accepted and those 3 are now on date for November 21st. They love it and are progressing well, however T and K also want to get their husbands to join. So could you pray for them too? I can really notice the difference when prayers are involved. 

During General Conference I'm not sure I told you but I had an impression to move another investigator's date up. I don't know why, I thought I was just being selfish in wanting her to move it up. But I asked her to pray and she said she had a feeling to move it up too. So now she will be baptized on Oct 24th! Then she was faced with some more family challenges, however, they are starting to be resolved thanks to the help of your prayers. So thank you and keep praying!

Sadly Briggs went home. His knee was really jacked up and it was getting very hard for him to walk, so the mission department thought he needed to get surgery. He was sad to leave, and I was pretty sad too because we became super close!!
However, he needs it to be pain-free and then he will be good. 

Now my new companion is Elder Ballif and he's pretty cool. He came out with me. He's from St George so I got another Utah companion!

Oh and I left my camera at a member's house for like this whole week so I didn't get the chance to take many pictures...Sorry!!

Here's a scripture I've been trying to "Ponderize" and it's a good one. Alma 32:26-27 ...

26 Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect
knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.

27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

I love this scripture because it gives us hope that includes EVERYONE. If we just exercise a little faith, even just a little bit, it will eventually
become bigger. It will swell until our faith becomes so strong that we cannot contain it! However it takes action which is what this means when it says it takes experimenting. I've seen what happens when we experiment with faith and it's just amazing the miracles we witness because of it.

Exercise that faith, act on it, believe in it and we can never go wrong!!

Give my love to the fam!!

Ofa Lahi Atu,

Elder Heimuli

Week 15 - We Just Have to Ask Him

Good Morning :)

Hello again it’s your favorite son and missionary EVER!! 

My buddy Evan. He has great taste in clothes. And schools.

I’m doing great, just tired alot haha but Briggs is good! He works hard and I really enjoy companions who are willing to put in work. I guess it’s an old habit that started with dad teaching us to work hard like him, then I took that expectation to my teammates, and it’s not any different out here. The hard workers are the ones I like to hang with.

Me and Elder Briggs from Las Vegas. He's awesome.

I haven’t seen Uncle Tom since we were in the old house! Make sure to say hi to them for me and tell them I love them! Oh and if Aunty Ana has the time, please send me some lupulu haha jk jk.

Hendrix is finally going through that Heimuli Fat Stage huh? Haha join the club little guy. Jk, he's too cute to go through the same stage all us boys went through, and some are still going through, haha. Is Alyssa ready to pop soon? I’m so excited for them, my niece is going to be beautiful because of Alyssa's beauty and Helam's feminine features ;) lol

General Conference was awesome :) Why? Because now I actually stay up and watch all of it! But I admit I was missing Dad, Hema, and Helam because of our priesthood sessions we used to attend together and the food afterward! What made me the saddest though was knowing I wasted so much time by sleeping through all those conferences. So much revelation is taught by the prophet and apostles, every word that proceeds out of their mouths is doctrine and scripture. I regret not taking full advantage of that opportunity. Harrison, even though you’re only 10 I hope you listen to their words instead of just playing with pokemon cards and legos. Start now and build that faith in the Prophet’s and Apostles’ words. It will benefit you so so much.

Thanks for putting money in my account, dad! I’m so grateful, and I should be good for a while. There are thrift shops here so it’ll be cheaper to buy my winter stuff here than you having keep sending me packages.

Okay, I could finally read the chain letter sent by the fam so I’m going to guess who wrote which messages. 1st was Hema, and no I don’t have an Indianan GF. My face is like Woman repellent. The 2nd one is Dad I think? 3rd one is Harry. 4th one is Hevynn cause apparently she really misses me... NOT. The 5th one is Helam...I think...it’s really hard to tell. 6 is Norma cuz she’s always sweet :) Number 7 is Pua! Haha her comment about the trash cracked me up because I could see them all doing that lol! I can’t wait to see how big baby Lakei and my little Hendrix and my new niece are (in two years). Number 8 with the horrible handwriting is probably Bo, so I think that disqualifies him from being in our family. Number 9 is Sifa! He'll have to hook me up with that Stanford hat when it's done. And the last one is Faith and the portion of the Bolen family that I actually like (so that’s pretty much every Bolen, just not Bo). Tell them I miss them and that I love them so much! Write me next week and tell me how well I guessed. I’m pretty sure I got 100%. All missionaries have this level of confidence, they’re just not all 100% correct 100% of the time like me. Jk.

[Note from Mom: He scored 10%. 1st paragraph was random with everyone putting in a couple of words. 2 Harrison. 3 Hevynn. 4 Helam. 5 Alyssa. 6 Pua. 7 Bo. 8 Sifa. 9 Brock. 10 Faith.  At least, he got Faith right.]

Haha I also got a kick out of Harry's letter and your reply at the botttom. You are harsh, but maybe and hopefully he learned his lesson!

So this week was crazy. Tuesday we had to go to Carmel (65 miles away) for Briggs’ leg appointment because he has a busted knee. His appointment was at 330. We decided to leave at 1230 to have a good buffer in case of traffic. Well good thing we followed that prompting because lo and behold there was a traffic jam. A semi-truck overturned on 2 lanes so it was at a standstill. We were there for 2 hours. It was about 2:50 and we were still an hour away. We called the office and they said if we weren’t there by 330 the doctor was going to leave. So you know what we did? We prayed. It was miraculous because as soon as we said Amen the traffic started to move. However we still weren’t going to make it to the appointment on time if we moved at the same pace. We prayed again while driving (I didn’t close my eyes, so no worries) and all the sudden all the cars like turned off to a different exit. So we flew and made there in time!

Now since conference was Saturday and Sunday we knew we wouldn’t be able to do a lot of work. On top of that Briggs had to go to a baptism in a city far away and had to spend the night there. So I had an exchange with Elder Cocker (straight outta Tonga…Fresh Off the Boat, haha). So I had 2 days to achieve all the goals we set, and meet with tons of people. So again I prayed asking if I could somehow achieve all the goals I had set in these two days. Then I thought to myself, “Who’s going to open the door to 2 big Tongans with a Book of Mormon and pamphlets in their hands?”

Well let me answer that: 16 people did in one day. 8 of them wanted us to come back! Mom, I seriously saw miracles and witnessed the Lord’s hand in His work that day. Right now 2 of those 8 are considering baptism and hopefully they will accept our invitation. We achieved and even shot past the goals I set for us last week. God is always aware of us and wants to help us. We just have to ask Him.

Here's a scripture that popped into my head because of conference. Mosiah 3:19.

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

We must make a much better effort to keep the commandments and submit ourselves to God's will. When we ask or pray for direction or for revelation we must be willing to act upon the promptings we receive. If we don’t choose to follow promptings then it's all meaningless. We may not like the prompting we receive, but when we act upon it the Holy Ghost's power and presence will be magnified and we will happier and stronger.

Love you mom!

Ofa Lahi Atu,

Elder Heimuli

Week 14 - His

Heyllo :)

Haha it's your favorite Missionary... EVER ;)

Good to hear about Hevynn's shower and upcoming wedding! I'm missing those fools haha! But I'm not surprised all those people came, everyone loves Hevynn and Bo. Btw how are the Bolens doing? It must have been a fun weekend. Are they excited to get rid of their least favorite son?

Oh yeah I heard Stanford won and BYU lost. Let's just say I felt very peaceful during the Sabbath Day. Haha and I'm SO happy Weber State is on a roll now! They just need to keep it going!

Tell Alyssa to stop trying to be in shape when she's carrying a baby, haha, she's making me look bad!! We try to run every morning and we only go about a mile before I'm winded haha!! She's pregnant and she runs more than we do!!

So yup I have a new companion. His name is Elder Briggs and he's from Las Vegas! Apparently the second companion is the hardest to adjust to. Which the first day it was, but only because I was just thinking that he wasn't Freeman and that we wouldn't get along. But I was wrong. We are getting along well and I'm enjoying it now. It's funny too because he has a dislocated knee and torn ligaments so I thought it was also going to be difficult to do missionary work. But we went up to the AP's (Elder Gubler and Elder Hackney) and we told them we needed our own car because of Brigg's knee. They changed the cars around right there and now we have our own full time car! The others were pretty butthurt that they had to all share cars except us lol!! So we were able to do a lot this week. We'd work from 10 am to 9 pm and come back home ready to pass out!

But this week M and her family who are on baptismal date are in trouble. They ran into a lot of personal and financial issues and it's difficult for them to stay focused and do the things God wants them to do. We left a lesson with them frustrated because we could see the influence of Satan. He is definitely trying his hardest on this family. So please pray for her and her family. She needs it.

On another note the whole zone here was pretty much switched around. We lost 6 missionaries. However we got two poly's down here, Elder Pau'u and Elder Hansen! So let's just say there have been a lot of jam sessions going on after we come back from working :) It's so fun but we all have the same motto down here. "Work hard, Play Hard!" We do our best and work our hardest. But when we come back and the day is done, we can enjoy the rest of the night.

The scripture I want to share is Alma 7: 11-13:

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God sufferereth all things according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins
of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

The key word in this scripture is His. Christ made this sacrifice so that those who choose to follow Christ can be cleansed. You have to CHOOSE to follow Him. When we make that choice we become His people. We become part of His fold. And, if we choose not to follow Him, then we cannot fully access the atonement. We have to strive to obey all of Christ's commandments and follow His example. Once we do that, then is the full atonement opened up to us.

So those pictures of the kids' letter aren't popping up :(  I think you'll need to resend them because I want to read them!!! That or these library computers are garbage, haha!!

Oh and I can't believe I forgot to tell you this! We had the awesome opportunity to work at the Special Olympics :)  It was awesome! I had so much fun and it was inspiring to see everyone giving their all in every event. It took the whole day but it was well worth the work.

Love you and tell the family I love them. 

Ofa Lahi Atu,

Elder Heimuli

Week 13 - About Being Baptized

Hey Mom:)

Well the news you have all been waiting for. The baptism went GREAT!!!! But before I talk about that let me talk to you about another miracle. I talked about the family we found where we tracted into them and they were in our former’s book? Well we went over there to teach a lesson and out of nowhere the 21 year old daughter said, "You know what, I have a question for you two!" She said it in a really stern way. So me and Freeman were both ready for some kinda anti mormon question but she said "Why aren’t y’all telling me about being baptized? When can I do it? How is it done?" Me and Freeman almost laughed because that was what we were going to teach them about!! So we taught her and her family and we set them on a baptismal date for Oct. 31^st :)

Wait, there’s more. The night before the baptism we had dinner with our ward mission leader and C. She was still struggling a bit with prayer because of all the difficult situations in her life. Me and Freeman found a scripture which is Alma 5:45-46 -

“And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety? Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me.”

We felt this was the scripture. After dinner we had a spiritual thought but before we could share our scripture our Ward mission leader bore his testimony of prayer. I can’t even describe in an email the power we felt. But it was awesome. The crazy thing was his testimony was exactly like the scripture we had prepared! When we read the scripture me, freeman, the ward mission  leader, and Catlin were all surprised, haha! We all had to tell her this was totally not planned, but it was all according to the spirit! So yet another blessing and miracle.

Fast Forward to the baptism. We invited P (the 21 year old who’s on date for Oct 31st) to the baptism. She loved it and said she is really looking forward to her own baptism. P has been coming to church ALOT and goes to all the activities and brings her little 2 year old son too! She is so awesome and did I mention she played rugby? 

During the baptism I swear Catlin was gonna jump outta her seat because she was so happy!! I’ve never seen someone so excited for their baptism. When Freeman baptized her and brought her up out of the water, she did like a fist pump and everyone laughed. We had great talks and a great musical number by the "Columbus Missionary Choir" -- so it was just us pretty much, haha! 

Sunday the confirmation went great too. Afterward, P told us how this is the only church she's seen that cares for its new members, that are involved and so welcoming. And you know what? It’s true! We told her that every LDS church and congregation she attends will be like this. Our church is a church of order and of love. So no matter where you go, if it be from Utah to Indiana or from Ukraine to India, members will always welcome you. We are the same everywhere and I feel like that’s one of the greatest things about being a member of this church.

This is Freemans last few days with me :(  I am pretty bummed because we've gotten so close with the people here and with each other. He's a great guy, an even greater missionary, and I’m gonna miss him. But it’s missionary work and there’s lots of it. So I’m going to have to hold the fort down here in Columbus! 

Congrats to Leah! Thats awesome!! Tell her I’m voting for Redlands University cuz it’s in Cali right? She should go there so I can keep an eye on her. I’ll make sure to scare all the guys away haha!! YAY!! So happy to see the pics of baby Hendrix and everyone at his baby blessing, it made me miss you all :) Glad Dallan was there too. Oh and I still get updates from Brother Farmer about all the games! We can’t text or call past 1030 so I asked if he would just text me the updates even though I can’t respond. So he did and I freaked out when I read it haha! Not only was I so happy to hear BYU lost, lol, but the best news was hearing Weber State WON and Stanford beat USC :) How’d Helam do? How’s Alyssa feeling? How are the marriage preparations coming along? How are Dad and Harry? How are you feeling?

I pray for you guys all the time and I especially am thankful for all of your prayers for me. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Give all the family my love!!

Ofa Lahi Atu

Elder Heimuli

P.S. My friend who is on a mission in Uncle Vai's area finally met him, haha! He told me Uncle was the coolest guy there and always treated the missionaries to pizza and tons of food. Haha it’s good to hear from my friends when they run into family :)

Week 12 - A Way Out

Hi Mom :)

Yup your favorite missionary is doing great! Haha, sounds like you had a VERY random dinner last night but dad doesn’t like tacos so I totally understand. Wow, 11 wards in the stake soon?! We are creating a new stake with 5 wards in it. I’m def not in Utah anymore. Oh yeah people love to update me on BYU game stuff even though I really don’t care about it. But they also like to update me on Stanford because that’s one of 2 teams that I actually care about. It’s a bummer for my other team (WSU) though. What was the final score?

Dang I didn’t know it was Bo’s Bday, tell him “happy late birthday old man” from me lol. Wow it’s going to be your 60th wedding anniversary, huh?;) haha jk I know you two aren’t quite THAT old. But I really wish I could be there, Happy Anniversary Dad & Mom :) 30 years in a world where people think that divorce is okay, 30 years raising a family where love and peace are found at home, that’s another thing I’ve come to really appreciate out here. I’ve seen too many families where the kids don’t have much of a chance because they just don’t have the solid family I’ve had growing up. I attribute that to my strong and valiant parents who built a family founded upon the Gospel. I am so thankful for you and dad and I hope you guys have a great anniversary:)

Things in Columbus are going great! Caitlin is still on track and we are holding her baptism this Saturday. She’s excited and already has everyone who she wants to speak at her baptism ready, she’s gung ho about it all! Elder Freeman will be baptizing her and I will confirm her on Sunday! She’s the best and no matter what we ask her to do, she has the faith that God will bless her for being obedient.

This past Sunday was crazy though. There was a stake priesthood meeting in Greenwood (about an hour away) so church started at 11 instead of 10. It’s funny because I’m more used to the 11am time so it seemed normal to me. Plus the Columbus 1st and Columbus 2nd wards combined so sacrament was crazy. To add to that, Freeman and I had 4 investigators at church, so it was like a circus act trying to sit by them and talk to all of them, haha. But sacrament was really cool because the talks centered on God’s love and temples, and those were two questions our investigators had! It was yet another little miracle God provided, and I knew He was watching out for these investigators. After sacrament, Sunday School was cancelled (yup, just cancelled) so we all went to priesthood, relief society, etc. The sister missionaries had an investigator who was male, so we kind of traded off, taking him to priesthood while our other investigators went with them to relief society. So again we were juggling people back and forth, but I think of it as much more of a blessing than a hassle because this just means the work is progressing and it is picking up. 

A scripture that popped into my head a lot was Corinthians 10:13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 

Glad you and Dad had the talk with Harrison. There's so much that kids his age will have to deal with, it's just crazy and terrible. Temptation is real and it’s hard. Even as a missionary we are still tempted. As imperfect people we will always be tempted, but God will not let us be tempted unless He provides a way out. And that way out? It’s called prayer. When we get on our knees and plead, just as Enos did in the Book of Mormon, we will receive the strength we need to resist temptation and find our way out. And when we find our way out, we realize we are a little bit stronger than before. God is always watching out for us, if we just take the time to pray, and have the faith to understand that we can overcome anything.

I know I didn’t ask this but it just popped into my mind. Is Hema still working in Atlanta? How’s Norma? I bet you’re all excited for Hendrix’s blessing coming up. Thanks for the picture. Can't believe how big he's getting :) How are Hevynn and Bo? How’s Harry liking school and swimming? How’s Dad holding up? How are Helam and Alyssa doing with their baby on the way and is Helam still contagious, haha. Love you mom!

Ofa Lahi Atu!

Sincerely,

Elder Heimuli

PICS!

Totally agree with this church welcome sign "You may be the only bible some will ever read." I also recommend reading the Book of Mormon!

We did a service project and ran into some alpacas.

Elder Freeman had a staring contest with one of them.

Just us being us!

On our way to a service project

We taught 9 lessons in a day and we were pooped. After we did our Planning and got everything ready for the next day, we had a little movie night!

A sister missionary gave me her uke! Yes I sleep with it.