Hey All

Dear family,

 

Things are going good here still, I feel like I say that every week, but it's true.We hit 20 lessons again this week. That was exciting to me. We also saw some Miracles this week as well. Thanks for all your emails, sounds like things are going good on your end. It would be nice to have the pocket knife around if you want to send it to me. Good to hear about all the missionaries heading out. Bummed about Grantsville, but it would good to finally not get so much slack from the few BYU fans in the ward this week. I hope Utah can get it turned around. Bishop Oyama was also telling me how LSU was rolling through the SEC so Geaux Tigers!! There is a member who is from San Francisco and loves the 49ers, he is super excited about how they are doing, and I also agree it is good to hear the Alex Smith is doing good.

 

Elder Boyle and I are doing pretty good. He is still really shy when it comes to teaching, and knocking on doors, but he is coming along. He is really into art and stuff, which isn't really my interest, but we get along well enough. He seemed to have learned a lot this week with the exchanges we did this week.

 

So Monday was just the usual day in Hilo, We had to get some new tires on our car, but other that that we just hung out at the stake center and played "crazy ball." It is like dodge ball with about 50 tennis balls. Needless to say it gets pretty crazy. Jerome fed us like usual so that was nice.

 

Tuesday we had the usual District meeting. After I brought Elder Marshall, our new district leader, with me home to Ka'u for the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday. He is a pretty good missionary, It was nice to see how he does things and way I can improve.

 

Wednesday was our usual busy day. I love Wednesdays. We started out by following up with a referral we had received from a member. She accepted a Book of Mormon. We taught a quick lesson on it and resolved her concerns about it not being the Bible, that seems to be a common concern. ha ha She is the mom of a semi less active member, so we will see how it goes. We also found a couple more potentials around town before lunch. After lunch we made out rounds in Ocean View and then did the Interview for Tati. Naboa's fed us like usual. They are so awesome! I always leave with a full stomach and lots of  leftover dessert. :)

 

Thursday we did our weekly plan for this week. Man time is really flying by, I cant believe that it is already week 5 of this transfer, or that I am 4 and a half months into my mission. We had a good lesson with Pule, and did lots of visits to part member families in the ward. That night we drove into Hilo for a Zone exchange. We all met at the stake center. I was paired up with Elder Kirkham. He is from Morgan, ( I always wondered if I would have a companion from Morgan) he is an awesome missionary we made it home around 10 through together a good plan and called it a night.

 

The point of the exchange was to see miracles all around the zone. We saw a bunch!!!!! The zone leaders set up a little score chart for the number of baptismal dates, new investigators, lessons, and part member visits. They didn't tell us how many points we would receive for each one until Friday night. Right from the start in Ka'u we saw some awesome miracles. First thing after studies, we headed to visit Dane, a potential Elder Marshall and I had talked to Wednesday. As we were walking up to the house he was pulling out to head to the dump. He ended up backing back into his driveway to pick up a little more trash. He told us he was hoping to see us again so we could teach him. Awesome! we taught him, his son, and grandson. Man, the Spirit was powerful there. His son is a less active we didn't know about, and Dane's wife is less active as well. We taught the 1st half of the Restoration, and hit prophets and families hard. I could tell they were touched and I think they would be great members of the Church, so hopefully things keep going well. Nothing like 2 new investigators at 10:40 in the morning. Miracle! We headed up to Evon's house, I don't know if I have ever mentioned her, but her family is going through a ton of hard times. We stopped by and she wasn't home so we said we would come back. While we were tracting around I just had a huge prompting that we needed to go back and teach about the Atonement. When we went back 10 min later Evon and her nonmember daughter we out talking on the front porch. Miracle! The Spirit was powerful once again. We testified that through the Atonement we can be forgiven of all our mistakes, and we can make it through all the hard times that might come our way. The daughter was touched, and accepted at baptismal date for November 26th. Miracle! 3 new and 1 with a date before lunch time. The afternoon continued to be successful we taught a few more lessons and ended up picking up one more new investigator. A member gave us some money to go eat dinner at McDonald's on our way back to Hilo. When the scores were added up we came up just short with 29 points. Elder Kirkham's companion had 30.5 points, but the point wasn't to win it was to see Miracles and we did! for the 1st 3 weeks of the transfer the zone had 12 new investigators combined. Friday the zone picked up 14 new and 4 with baptismal dates! Miracle! It really built my testimony that when we work hard and do all we can Heavenly Father will bless us.

 

Tati's baptism was awesome! She has a such a strong testimony, she is going to be an awesome member of the church as she grows up. After her little brother who turns 8 in December 5th, and their cousin Halai who we have been trying to teach since I have been here were arguing who was going to be the next person baptized. It was awesome. They both can't wait to be baptized and it looks like they both will be in December so that is going to be exciting as well.

 

Sunday we had a great turn out. 3 investigators came! I love it. I truly feel so much joy from seeing our investigators come to church and make and keep commitments. I know it will bless their lives, and the lives of their families! It truly is a blessing to be a part of it. Apparently Tati's mom is facebook friends with one of  Aline Harden. She mentioned to Imi that the blonde haired missionary was her cousin Ben. haha Small world. I also met a lady from Tooele this week which was interesting.

 

That's about it for me this week. Sorry I kinda rambled on about Friday. it was just that awesome. Hope I didn't bore you too much. Thanks for all you do. I Love You can't wait to hear from you next week. Aloha!!

 

                                Love, Elder Tripp