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.

Week 11 - A Pretty Miracle-Filled Week

Before transfers changes everything, here's a pic of all the elders in our apartment:  L to R - Rasmussen, Freeman, Naire

Hey sorry it's taken so long to email you back :/ It's Labor Day so we couldn't write until I got to a member's house. I hope Helam recovers and Alyssa and the baby are OK. I'm praying for him. That's good to hear that Uncle Tini and Aunt Lori are healthy and doing well. I know many prayers were said for them. I'm sure you and Hevynn were happy to be in their ward because you both love helping out. So a few weeks ago at the temple I ran into a Hawaiian-samoan lady who knew Uncle Tini! She said she'd email him a picture of us, but I don't remember her name so I'm sorry haha!

So...football. It's funny. I thought I'd avoid football here in basketball country but I guess I can't. Since Dad played for BYU people in our ward think it's their responsibility to update me on BYU games...ok...haha. Brother Farmer, a member in our ward, played with Dad and Uncle Hema. He was a freshman when Dad was a senior. He kindly updates me on both BYU and Stanford. I told him now I just need him to update me on Weber State games and we are good to go!

Hema and Norma are such awesome parents, and Helam and Alyssa are going to be great parents too. Oh can you shoot me their photos so I can see how ugl.... I mean how beautiful they all look? ;)

This week has been pretty good. We've just been working hard doing as much as we can because Freeman leaves in a week and a half. He's such a great trainer so it's going to be weird not being his companion. Yeah I don't think anyone else can match him right now, he's awesome. 

Elder Heimuli's going to miss Elder Freeman. What a great trainer!

But we've had almost no luck tracting this week. I remember one day we went out for about 5 min and it started to pour on us.

Coming back in from the pouring rain

So we were stranded at a gas station and the other elders couldn't come pick us up for a bit. Then outta nowhere Steve and Kim saw us and we got a ride from them haha. I thought mom must still be praying for angels to watch over me because that's what Steve and Kim are. Miracles everyday. 
In fact last week we were knocking doors for hours and no one was answering. Literally no one, so we were pretty frustrated. We were complaining and we just thought, "All we need is one door to answer, one door." So the last door we decided to knock on opened!! They opened and it was a family who had missionaries over before. She said that she loved the missionaries because they were so kind. We talked to them for like an hour and now they want to know more. Later that night we were wondering when they met with the other missionaries and BAM! The first page we turned to in our book was a teaching record of that family. We got to know what they were taught and what they needed to know. Little miracles in everything everyday. 

C this past Sunday invited us over to dinner. She lives with her sister C and her family, and the crazy thing is Freeman used to teach them. They just got too busy so Freeman never got the chance to teach them again. We saw them a couple of weeks ago at the temple open house but we still could never find a good time to see them because they were so busy. But now we were having dinner with them and we got to spend time with their family! Another miracle. Their family has been through a lot and they were kinda mad at God, but C told us that they've been trying to get right with God and that's why she wanted us to teach her. So Freeman and I talked with them and we told them to watch the Mormon Message "Mountains to Climb." C just loved it and is now even more eager than ever to be baptized. Also her sister wants to see us again and she wants to know more. Looking back I can see that this has been a pretty miracle-filled week, and I am so grateful for the blessings God gives us. Thank you for the prayers, I know they help alot because I've seen the power that prayers bring into lives and the blessings God gives us if we will simply get on our knees and pray.

Sorry if this letter seems so short and jumbled. We only have a little bit of time to email! 

Love you guys!

Ofa Lahi Atu,

Elder Heimuli

PS. I got the cutest letter from my cousin Hannah!

PPS. I'm addicted to cotton candy grapes. You gotta try these!

Week 10 - How Powerful a Testimony

Hello!!

I love hearing how all the fam is doing:) Good luck in DC and I hope you dont get hurt anymore grandma er.. Mom lol!

I'm so excited for Heels. Alyssa is going to be a great mom! When's the date they are expecting again? I hope she's doing well. Oregon State also doesn't know what's gonna hit them. How's Helam doing? Is he ready? I wish I could watch the game but, when you can, send me some pics of him playing OSU :) 

Congrats to Bo that he has college still paid for! What a blessing and if anyone deserves that blessing its him. He's got the great life. First he gets my beautiful sister and then he gets a stipend. Haha. 

I can tell from the pics that Hema and Norma are still being great parents :) Hendrix is just too handsome. Like his uncle. No Helam the other uncle. No Harry. Haha. 

Harry is liking school I suppose? Not holding a grudge against you like I did the year you transferred me to LPA? Remember that haha. I bet he's making lots of friends! And Dad, he's still the hard working man I still revere, especially since being out here on a mission. I love you all!

So remember when I asked you last week about the coolest Sunday school teachers, the Robinsons? Haha so right after that email I got a call from the mission office. They said I had a package. And I'm thinking that's weird my mom just sent me two packages and no girls ever send me anything. So they fowarded it to me and it was from the Robinsons!! The last few weeks I was wondering about them haha!! So I opened the package and there were a ton of B.O.M's! Oh and really good treats :) But these Book of Mormons were very special.

They had a little testimony in each of them. So all the Elders in my district decided to read every single testimony. It was awesome and so uplifting and we were impressed with the testimonies in these books. 

Suddenly a thought occurred to Freeman and me. "Lets give one to C" (our investigator who's on date for baptism). So the next lesson we gave her one, and that testimony fit her perfectly. When I shared with her how old that girl was who wrote her testimony in that Book of Mormon she looked at me awestruck. It's amazing how powerful a testimony can be no matter how old (or young!) you are. C is now just burning through that book. We texted her one night and asked her to read certain chapters. She said, "Oh I already read those." Haha she is awesome! And thanks to the package the Robinsons sent me, and that little testimony, she is making progress in the gospel :) Her heart is set on Sep 19th for baptism so please keep praying for her that she will not be swayed and that she can keep making progress. You have no idea how grateful I am for the Robinsons. 

The work is still going great! Me and Freeman are leading the District right now and we work non stop. The Lord is always helping us, in fact, recently I've seen His hand in our work. Kim and Reagan are members but Kim's husband is not. He is such a good man who loves his wife. Also other members in Kim's family aren't members. When we first came in everyone was kind of stand-offish. But lately this wonderful family has opened up and we've had the privilege of seeing Steve at church every Sunday :) Kim's family love us and we love them. We are often with them either helping or teaching, and they take good care of us. Having Kim in Columbus is like having you here Mom, you would love her. The Lord has been softening many hearts and I am so grateful!! So we are just working, working, working but there is nothing else I'd rather be doing :)

I love you and I hope things are going well!

Ofa Lahi Atu!

Elder Heimuli

More pics:

We work hard and play hard. Even at 5am. How cool is that my trainer's also a darn good quarterback?

I'll take that handoff. 

Dominoes...

We nap hard too. 

Surprise Email from Indiana

Elder Freeman's mom sent Elder Heimuli's mom these pictures today shared by Darrell Simmons, a former Mission President of the Indiana Mission.  Bro and Sis Simmons were there for the Temple Dedication and yesterday they kindly took the elders to lunch at Olive Garden.  Lucky Elder Heimuli...for being with the right trainer in the right place at the right time.