Hey mom!
Yup, Columbus is great and it's good to be back! Especially as JC to Elder Quick :) it's even better.
Hema and Norma wrote to me! It's always good to hear from them. I will try to reply but if I'm not able to, please tell them it's only because I'm pretty limited on email time now, haha! But I still love them :)
Good for Helam and Alyssa and their business. Yes, I saw those gorgeous photos that Helam took of Hema's family! Haha, Hendrix looked so happy ;)
Tell Aunty Tina I said hi and tell Hev and Bo the same! Those firesides were awesome, and I still listen to the Testimony song that they all sang at my farewell and at the Ogden Temple devotional :)
Congrats to Harry :) If I forget, Happy Bday, bud. I'm happy and so proud of his advancement and willingness to become a holder of the very authority Christ and Prophets hold. This authority is given for service, and for our own growth. I'm excited for him and can't wait to see him when I get back! I also hope that he is helping dad. It's funny how much people always bring up dad still. It happened like 5 times this week!
I know you want pics, mom. Here are a few I finally downloaded off my camera of me at transfers with some of my favorite Tongan missionaries. Sorry, these are a couple weeks old but I know you'll love them anyways!
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| With Elder Fonohoma (from Utah) |
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| Elder Pau'u headed back home (to California) |
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| Elder Quick (who thinks he's Tongan) |
So I decided this time I won't have a play by play of the week. I decided to share what miracles I have seen and the lessons I have learned this far! Why? Because I left my planner at home. Haha. And so many things have happened this week that I really can't remember anything that has happened day to day. But here is what did happen.
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| At church with Elder Taka |
Elder Quick went on exchanges with Elder Taka and they went tracting for 12 hrs!!!!!!!!!!! I decided to go with Elder Woolsey and we stopped by all of our investigators, and theirs, and tracted. While we were working, no one was answering their phones or their doors, so I was getting pretty fed up with it. Then I got a call from the Zone Leaders. They told me that they were teaching a family that they planned on passing off to us (because they are Spanish) but then the family moved to Georgia. This all happened about a year ago, I'm just giving a little background into what happened. Fast forward to now, the ZLs called and told me that the family had returned and that they wanted the missionaries over again! So we picked up 2 new investigators because we were out being diligent. Following that we went and picked up Taka and Quick and ended the exchanges.
So this family is awesome. After the lesson we put them on date for April 29th, but we found that there is a language barrier. The husband is Hispanic and we had another lesson with them, which went pretty bad because I've never dealt with a family in which language is a huge concern. So please pray for them to make that date and for us that we can be guided to know what will better help them progress -- because we need that guidance, haha! Anyways, they weren't able to come to church Sunday because they woke up late and it's a good distance from where they live. They said they were coming this week, so we are hoping for that as well.
Another miracle was the other day Elder Quick and I decided to go and drop by Billy and Brittany's because they haven't been answering their phones and they have been sick. We talked to Brittany for a bit and we had some time before our next appointment so we went and visited another potential. While we were waiting at the door a woman walked by. Elder Quick just did a 180 and started talking to her. I think she was weirded out at first, but then she allowed us to come back and visit her. We came back and had a spiritual lesson with her. We taught her about the Restoration and she agreed to be baptized as well!!!! April 29th! She didn't come to church this week but we are still working with her. Her son said something cool. After the lesson, he looked at his mom and asked if he could come to church, too! Apparently, she didn't listen to him this week ;) but maybe she will be receptive this upcoming week. So please pray she makes that date and that we can be able to help her and her 3 kids progress in this gospel. It was a cool miracle though.
But another one happened this Sunday! So first off, Elder Quick and I have been playing basketball with a kid named LJ. He is Kim's nephew, and he is an awesome kid. We have been spending time with him and he really just wants to be better at sports, or whatever. Well, he has also been attending church with his grandma, who is Kim's sister. He came this Sunday and we sat with him. After sacrament, out of nowhere, he and his grandma come up to us and ask if there is any way we can baptize him!! So right then and there we set a date for April 29th. So there are 6 people who could be baptized on April 29th!
We will be working as hard as we can to help them progress, so I pray that Heavenly Father grants us wisdom and knowledge. Even if it is for just this small moment, I really just want to help these people, Mom. I really want to just be my best at this point. I hope I can get it all done, not for my own agenda or anything like that. Not because I want to be remembered, and not because I just want to go out with a bang....
I have thought a lot about it, and I earnestly desire just a charitable heart to finish this work that God has given me to do. I pray for that ability, even if it's for this limited time that I have left.
Anyhow, Mom, I pray God keeps blessing those I love at home as well. Love you and hope all is well
Ofa Lahi Atu,
Elder Heimuli
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Elder Taka and I made a goal that we wanted to go knock doors all day long. We started knocking doors at 10 am and ended an 9 pm. This day we saw so many miracles, I can't even begin to describe. We started in the morning in my area and found a lot of success of Cleveland Street, in honor of our former Mission President, Steve Cleveland. We found an individual named Kay, who was very prepared. She was confused about why her pastor would steal money to pay for a drug addiction he had, and knew that if he was a servant of God he wouldn't do that. We set a return appointment with follow up and answer her questions. The next door we went to we talked to Sheila who was just sitting in her truck. Turns out her niece is a Mormon who lived out in Utah, and Sheila is an apostolic Pentacostal. We also found a crazy guy on that street. Taka flashed a fire fighter badge, the guy thought we were police officers and let us...and then he asked who we were about 15 minutes into the conversation! He looked pretty relieved that we weren't the police!
Next, I looked at the GPS, picked a place and drove there...drove through the entire parking lot of this apartment complex and then parked on the opposite side of it. Truly we were being led by the spirit. The first lady we talked to was named Melody. She had so many questions about religion. She told us she was looking for a church that she could raise her family in. Melody also told us something very profound. She said, "It took me 7 months to open up to my therapist and it took me 5 minutes to open up to you two." We gave her a Book of Mormon and told her that she could ask any question she wanted, write it in the front, and then by reading it she would find her answer. We met with her later, read it with her and had a very powerful lesson. She's thinking of a baptismal date.
We moved to Elder Taka's area started knocking and found a few people and then an individual tried to bash us. I don't really like people who just want to bash us so I invited us to leave and he wouldn't let us. As he asked us questions, we were not confounded we could answer everything he asked us. I bore my testimony and Elder Taka started to bear his testimony and the man said, "No, I don't want to hear it. I've already heard it."
I wished him to have the spirit with him as he gave a sermon the following Sunday. We were about to leave his street, but instead we decided to go knock every door. I decided I'm going to baptize his neighbor so he can live next to a Mormon haha. We continued knocking the last 3 houses when we found Catherine who is facing several struggles right now, and is looking for a church, and loved the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She said she was going to invite all of her friends over so they could hear this message. She loves sports. We host a weekly sports night and she is going to come. The last house we knocked, we talked to a woman named Grace, who was looking for a church to show her son the correct path. She accepted a baptismal date of April 29th and is very excited about working towards it, learning more about the message we bring.
The last miracle we saw was the last person we talked to. There was a lady who was outside having a smoke break. So we made small talk with her while we knocked the apt doors around hers. Eventually I walked over, still making small talk, and then she just opened up and talked about her life, and the deaths she recently had. We talked about it, she told me she believed she would see them again and hold them again. What a great attitude to have! She taught me a great lesson to always stay positive even when faced with crazy trials.
We were trying to contact some potential investigators when I saw this lady and I just went to talk to her. It was kinda random and I think I spooked her because I had to walk through this little tunnel and pop out right before her. She talked to us about what she thought about church and how she was allowed to pick whatever church she wanted when she was a little kid. We set up a return appointment, went back two days later, she accepted a baptismal date of the 29th and her son James saved us! He was like, "Mom, let's go to church. I want to go." So shout out to James for saving us on that one.
Mary Jane and Jose were referrals from the Spanish elders, so their home it is pretty crazy to be in (they have kids running everywhere), so one of us will distract the kids while the other one teaches. Jose doesn't even speak English so we brought a Spanish member in our ward to teach with us. A very neat thing: she was taught a year ago if i remember correct. She already is starting to quit smoking. Very prepared investigator, we kinda get really stressed out going over there because of all the craziness in the home but I know that it isn't about us. It is about Mary and Jose, and we will work with what we have been given.
LJ at church came up to us with his Grandma Linda. She told us that LJ is looking to get baptized while we are still here! We have been stopping by playing basketball with him, kind of just chilling, making sure he's good and waiting for the opportunity to bring up baptism. And then HE brings up baptism to US! Please pray for him. We have to get permission from his parents to baptize him. Many prayers are needed.
Funny experience we were riding bikes, not even a half mile from our house, and Elder Heimuli rips his pants. It was pretty bad. So we had to ride home and get that taken care of. And then Elder Taka and I had to fix our door. It took us about 20 minutes. It was a pretty simple fix, just put a piece of trim back on. Anyways thanks for reading!
Have a great week
Much love
Elder Quick
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