Blessings of Prophets

The prophet today: President Thomas S. Monson

Hakuna Matata.  Is that Hawaiian?? Never mind.   It's probably African or something:)  Anyway, life is good here.  I gave a talk in church this past Sunday on how blessed we are to have prophets.  As I studied all week, I really gained an appreciation for prophets that I hadn't before.  I always took them for granted.  I knew if I studied the apostasy, I could/would see how important and necessary prophets are now and have been throughout history.  Apostasy is awful! Read Helaman 12: 2-5, 2 Nephi 28: 7-15, 2 Timothy 4:3-4.  I practiced giving the talk that morning to myself in the bedroom.  It was really good and I was feeling the spirit pretty strong.  When I got up to give the talk in church, I tried to use my notes as little as possible.  To me, that talk was way "inferior" to the talk I gave that morning to myself.  It felt choppy and I didn't say things the way that I had wanted them said.  Afterward several members came and told me what a good job I did.  One member said he felt goosebumps when I recited the First Vision and that inspired him to read the whole Joseph Smith story again during Sacrament meeting.  I had prayed that the spirit would be with me and I would say what I needed to.  I was confused that the words that I was given at church were different words than what I was given that morning.  I concluded that the talk in the morning was the talk I needed to hear, and the one at church was what they needed to hear.

Anyway. . . this week has pretty good.  On Tuesday I felt like a "pile" (it's a missionary slang term for lazy, or disobedient).  We spent hours going through our phone and calling people and setting up appointments.  Having "white-washed" into this area, there were many names in the phone who we didn't recognize and who we wanted to clear out if they were not interested.  That evening was great though.  We went on splits with the High Priests.  Brother Bole took Elder Campbell and I to a less active member that we had never heard of and to the two ladies who live with the wild kids.  The spirit was so strong at each house!

Zone Conference February 2015

On Wednesday we saw Ryan and set him with a baptism date of March 1st!  His mom started asking a bunch of questions about a mission.  She wants Ryan to go on one!  Maybe he'll convert her :)  We have been teaching some rambunctious kids (teenagers).  We visited them and they are improving as we continue to teach them.  That evening we had Ward Coordination meeting.  Only the ward missionaries, mission leader, and us 4 missionaries (my companion, me, Elder Gruwell, and Elder Harper) attend.  We were asked to give out Books of Mormon to ward members that evening.  So far it's been working out for us.  Also, Elder Campbell and I had been so busy that day that we didn't really eat dinner.  One of the members took us to Olive Garden after the meeting!  God does provide.

Tie swapping at Zone Conference.  Look for Hyrum!

Thursday: We had district meeting.  We had an appointment with a new investigator, but no member to go with us.  We called up a High Priest who sounded reluctant to come, but by the end of the lesson, he was so pumped and excited about teaching the gospel.  A lady named Sister Achiu fed us that evening. She is awesome.  She is in her 60s and she has served several missions.  She cooked a nice meal.  Sister Achiu is such a great, Christlike lady.  She reminded me of Granny.  Then she sent us home with extra food for us and the other two elders.

Friday: We did some good yard work for a lady in the ward who can't do it herself.  We did a lot of weed pulling.  Thanks for teaching me how to pull weeds, Mom.  We finished our weekly planning (3-4 hours).  We also played dodgeball and kickball with the wild kids for an hour (our mission president authorized sports - no more than an hour a week, I think).

Saturday: We taught Adrian (a guy) and his best friend Sterling.  Sterling is actually a member and is thinking about a mission.  He did great in the lesson!  Sterling asked if he could come back with us and teach the Plan of Salvation.  Then we brought a member to the wild kids. Do you know how hard it is to get a member to go with you to a lesson on Valentines Day, Temple Day and Saturday!  We found one, by golly! Haha.  The lesson went really well.  The kids were pretty quiet and the member connected well with them.  He works for the school district, so he sees them every once in a while.

One of Hyrum's favorite meals: Chicken Alfredo!

Yesterday, we went to church; the kids did not behave very well.  They left to go to Costco after sacrament meeting!  After church, we took Trevor (18 year old, priest, Eagle Scout, musician) to Ryan's.  Ryan planned out his baptism  He chose the speakers, who would baptize him (which will be Trevor) and the whole shebang!  It's really going to happen!

I love it here, but it will feel good to be home, just like you felt in Hawaii.  Don't worry, that is in 18 1/2 months :)  I can see a bit better/more clearly how hard it is to be a dad.  Being out in the "real" world has shown me the effort it takes to stay strong.  Before my mission my foundation was my family.  Now it is Christ (and my family).  Thanks for building our home on Christ and for teaching/showing me how to work hard.

Have a good week.
The church is true.
The book is blue.

Love, Elder Hyrum P Ruby