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We Survived Ta'al
January 19, 2020A New Branch and a Volcano!
Hello Everyone!
Kumusta? (How are you?) I'm alive and well. It's been two weeks since we've been able to write and it has been some of the busiest two weeks of my mission!. The Ta'al volcano eruption (about 100 miles north of us) really put a damper on our P-day plans last week and we weren't allowed to write. I actually got to see the huge smoke plume. It looked a lot like a mushroom cloud. One of the Elders in our district got a good picture of it (I didn't have my camera) so I'll have to try to get a copy of that picture for you. The first day wasn't bad, but the second day, the winds changed and we had a lot of ash rain down on us. We've been told to wear masks if/when it gets bad.
If you remember two weeks ago, my companion was reallys struggling with his foot. It was very difficult for him to walk. We went to the hospital on Monday the 6th, but it was closed by the time we made it there. We had to try again the next day. He got bloodwork and medicine which was pretty expensive. He's doing much better now.
On Wednesday the 8th, I was in Socorro with Elder Westbrook and we were pretty busy. However, for whatever reason, my Tagalog was absolutely horrible the whole day. It felt like my tongue was tied up in knots. That made me worried for the next day because I had exchanges planned to be with Elder Shorts, a brand new missionary. I needed to take the lead and be able to communicate with the people we taught. I really had to humble myself that evening. On the day of our exchanges, it went great and we taught 9 different people! The day included quite a few tender mercies from God, mainly with the gift of tongues. At one lesson in particular, I didn't have any language mess ups (unlike my emails and my English) and I was able to speak clearly and smoothly without even pausing to think. It was such a great blessing to have that day and it really did help my testimony about the power of prayer and working hard for what you ask for.
The following day (January 9th) we had our interviews in Victoria with President Cuilan. He told me that I will be staying in Socorro this coming transfer and then I'll be transferred. Socorro is really starting to grow on me. I'm excited for my next adventure in 6 weeks, but I'm really going to miss this area.
We went to Victoria again on Saturday so my companion could interview two more people for baptism. That was a great experience. We then rewarded ourselves with peanut M&Ms which were amazing. We went to a nice place for lunch, too, and it was pretty good.
Sunday, January 12th, was a very special day. President Cuilan was able to make it to Socorro and formally formed the congregation into a Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. President Bigdas is the new Branch President and Brother Arnold, who helps us so much in this area, is the new Elders Quorum President. For the first time we now have a Branch Mission Leader (Bro. Chakie) who can help us coordinate appointments and exchanges, etc. It was wonderful to be a part of that and great to see so many people reaping the blessings. 54 people attended and it was determined that we need to find a bigger place to meet so everyone can fit comfortably going forward.
Our mission president, President Cuilan and his wife told us they'd like to eat with us at our apartment after church! We excused ourselves from church as quickly as we could and raced home and hurriedly cleaned the apartment! They were very generous and complimented us on the apartment, but after looking around, agreed that we should definitely look for a nicer place to live. Sister Cuilan was complimentary of the small meal we made (including brown rice) but I could tell she definitely would have preferred standard white rice. At about 1:00 PM on Sunday afternoon, the Ta'al volcano erupted. We didn't realize it or hear it at the time, but again, saw the smoke and clouds that afternoon.
We had to stay inside for all but an hour on Monday because of the dangers of ashfall. I kept myself busy by watching some church movies: 17 Miracles, Ephraim's Rescue, and the movie about the Salt Lake City Temple (Mountain of the Lord). Those are pretty great movies.
The following day, we had a combined District Council and Zone Council in Victoria and we talked about using our time wisely to visit and find everyone that you should be visiting and finding. Because of transfers, I said goodbye to Elder Valencia in case I don't see him (but I hope I do because he is great). We ate some good food at the same place we ate after the baptismal interviews. A lot of people have expressed their astonishment that I am not getting transferred. I guess I will have been in Socorro for six months by the end of next transfer, so that's a pretty long time.
We've had a lot of ups and downs meeting with people. Some are interested and other long-term investigators have expressed their desire to no longer meet with us. It's hard to see some of them go away after we've spent so much time with them and prayed so much for them. We have several people slowly progressing toward baptism. Many of the families here, members and non-members, really struggle with the Word of Wisdom (drinking coffee, tea, alcohol, smoking, etc.) We will continue to work with them.
We were having a pretty normal day this past Friday until we went to visit Mildred and her family. They weren't home, but there but there was a lady pumping water and she reminded me of the lady in 17 Miracles (from the movie I watched earlier this week). We spoke with her and she really had a breakdown. She is in a really difficult place and said that her husband doesn't love her any more and that she spends all of her time and energy taking care of her children and cleaning the home. She cried and we were able to listen to her for a while. We gave her a Book of Mormon and shared our testimonies that God is watching out for her and is aware of her challenges. It ended up being a very positive experience. God works in unusual ways to lead us to the people who really need a little bit of extra help and support.
There's not much else to share. We had another good Sunday and it was great to see our official Branch in operation. We even had a Branch Mission meeting to discuss missionary work. Progress is a terrific thing.
Food Adventures:
Brother Arnold cooked some Tilapia (fish) for us. I'm not a big fan, but it wasn't terrible, either.
I tried making barbeque chicken with a pre-flavored chicken, but it didn't work out.
I've also had a lot of past lately. Maybe that's why my Mission President said I am looking "fuller." :)
Spiritual Thought:
"Behold, verily I say unto you, that these are the words of the Lord your God. Wherefore, labor ye in my vineyard for the last time - for the last time call upon the inhabitants of the earth." (D&C 43:25-28)
In the past month or so we have seen 2 typhoons and a Volcano eruption in my mission alone. These have been good reminders to the people of our area that we need to repent and get our lives pointed toward God. It is an amazing time to serve the Lord as a missionary and to declare a warning voice that the signs of the Second Coming prophesied in the scriptures are taking place. People must know by our voices that this life, right now, is "the time to prepare to meet God." (Alma 34:32)
Thank you all for all your love and for your emails and prayers! It is greatly appreciated. I love you all!
-Elder Smith
Aloha! I hope everyone has had a great week or two. Things here haven't changed much other than loosing some investigators. It's always difficult to hear that people no longer want to hear the Gospel. But, we all Gucci. Things here will hopefully start ramping up this week as we work together. We're going to be encouraging families to have a family mission plan like we did in my last area on Oahu. That let to a lot of church-member involvement in the work. It's been a busy two weeks. We had interviews with the Mission President; Went on a hike to Waipo'o; Got a tire fixed; Ate an amazing Dole Whip (pineapple ice cream); Did a car wash service project; Started working out again and drinking more water; Going to bed earlier and eating good food . . . like the food at Costco; We celebrated the 18 month mark of Sister Thomas in our area and the 2 year mark since my companion, Elder Wolfe, got his mission call; I got corn-rows in my hair and they were dope; We had a service project for an older auntie; Tallied 2,200+ miles this month! And probably a few more things that I can't remember at the moment. Spiritual Thought: My companion found a video on Facebook that I really enjoyed. It was a "silent interview." I know that sounds weird but it was good and will probably make more sense after you watch it. Pay attention to the feelings you have when you silently answer the questions: Link: https://fb.watch/5_skmpYXfy/ Now that you've watched it, there are a few things that stuck out to me. In particular, I was impressed by the presence and the purpose of the Spirit of God. The Spirit can convey more truth about God than we can with all our words. In the video you can really see in the reactions of everyone as they are feeling much more than can be said. And that is because of the Spirit. As it says in the scriptures, the Spirit can convey and teach us much more than what earthly teachers can convey to us through words. Thank you all for reading about another week and I hope you all can take something beneficial from this email. Love you all and Aloha!!! - Elder Smith
Aloha Everyone! I hope you're having a great week and getting into your summer plans and trips and having lots of fun with that. This week has been a decent week. My new area is Kekaha on the south-west side of the island of Kauai. It's a pretty cool place so far and the people are pretty nice (except for the person who yelled at us and chased us away. I guess some people don't know we are trying to help them lol). The scene is very laid back and the population is a lot older than I was expecting. Everyone here is more local Hawaiian and more traditional. This side of the island of Kauai doesn't receive much rain. It's hot and dry and and the rocks have a lot of reds and oranges. It very much reminds me of southern Utah. But, we actually have an air conditioner in our apartment! Our daily drive is right along the ocean and that makes me want to try surfing. Any swimming is off limits as a missionary and so I already know how that would end. I think I can't wait to try surfing until later in life. The work here is kinda slow and laid back, but that's just the culture. I am only here for 5 more weeks (as everyone keeps reminding me) so I'm just going to try and enjoy learning from everyone and not insist on taking the lead in every situation. My zone is nice and there are a few more gatherings/activities here than in our zone on Oahu, so I am enjoying that. The COVID laws/rules are almost not even noticeable here. It's cool to get back to a more normal life. I haven't gotten too well acquainted with anyone yet, but I will let you know if I bump into anyone super cool. Oh, and last thing, this next week should be fun as we have a mission tour. A General Authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will be in our mission and the whole Kauai zone gets to fly to Oahu for the day. I'm pumped about that. I'll be sure to let everyone know how it all goes in next week's letter. Spiritual Thought: An older gentleman asked this week if there was a list of rules that if we lived our lives by those rules, we'd be doing what we God wanted us to do. It kinda blew my mind to hear that this man was unfamiliar with the 10 commandments. It reminded me that we need to really familiarize ourselves with the basics so as to live as best we can. It also underscored the importance of our job as missionaries . . . to let everyone know about the Gospel and God's great Plan of Happiness! This week I invite you to read the commandments that God has given us in the scriptures. As you take the time to do that, it's a good opportunity to do an inventory of your life to see how well you are following those commandments and then see what can be changed. How can we change our will to be in line with God's will? I hope everyone has a great week! Mahal ko kayo! (My new companion, Elder Wolfe, served in the Philippines. He speaks Tagalog like me. We've been able to speak with quite a few Tagalog speakers this week. God knows what He is doing and He knows I need to be here.) Love, -Elder Smith
Aloha Everyone! Sorry I haven't been writing very much lately. No excuses, really, just got a big case of the blahs. My companion has been great and it's been good to see his progress, but my living situation has not been all that good. I think I've been languishing a bit. I feel like I've just been doing missionary things and saying missionary things. God knew I was struggling, so this past weekend He paved a way for me to be transferred. We are now starting my very last transfer here in the Hawaii, Honolulu Mission and normally I would "die" (go home) from this area. But, God wants me in a different area. I just arrived in Kekaha, Kauai!!! So far it's been great here in Kauai, but a bit hot. My new companion is also a missionary who was serving in the Philippines and got moved to the Honolulu mission. Should be a good transfer! Be sure to check my pictures (https://www.arickgibsonsmith.com/gallery) when you can. We just uploaded 80 pictures from the past few weeks. :) Here are some of the things that have happened since I wrote last: I've seen some beautiful flora and fauna here in Hawaii. Purple trees, beautiful birds and goldfish, immaculate lawns, and some amazing ocean views. We went to the Valley of the Temples in Kaneohe a few weeks ago and it was beautiful. It took a lot of time and patience, but I managed to get a spotted dove to jump onto my finger! Somehow I woke up early last week and joined a bunch of missionaries on a pre-sunrise hike to a pillbox from World War II in Kaneohe. The fact that I woke up that early is a minor miracle! The sunrise was awesome and the views were amazing. I got both my first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. I'm still feeling the effects from the second dose, but glad I had an immune-system response. #protected On May 10th, I convinced some of the elders and sisters in our zone to wear the color purple for Lupus-awareness day in honor of my Mom. :) Our zone got to do a big service project at Pearl Harbor. We cleaned part of a battleship and I even got to take a quick nap in the bunk beds! Our zone purchased nerf guns and we've been sneak-attack shooting each other like crazy. Fun? :) And, most importantly, Sister Jody Murphy was rebaptized into the church last week. While that doesn't necessarily "count" as a "convert baptism," we've been working with her a lot and it's been amazing to see the change of heart she's experienced. She is an inspiration and I'm lucky and fortunate to have met her!! I'm scheduled to come home by the end of June. With the crazy timing of my mission, it seems very odd to realize that I'll be leaving next month! I need to work hard and make the most of the time I have left. Thank you, again, for all your help and prayers and support! The following scripture has been on my mind lately: Alma 16: 1-8 ". ..And it came to pass that Alma inquired of the Lord concerning the matter.. ." It's important to involve the Lord in every aspect of our lives. We can ask about missionary work, family history, and even the normal or mundane things in our lives. As we look at the tasks in front of us and then read the words of ancient and modern prophets, God will help us know what He would have us do. Most importantly, we then need to act to the best of our abilities. God will help us along the way. Again, thank you for all you do for me. I love you all! Aloha!!
Aloha Everyone! The last couple of weeks have been very busy and have been filled with changes. Last week I was in a trio (3) companionship while we waited for my new companion, Elder Johnson, to complete his mandatory COVID quarantine in Honolulu. Being in a trio was very different but we managed to make things work. This week was good and different. On Thursday I picked up my trainee (Elder Johnson) who is from Meridian, Idaho, just outside of Boise. He's 19 years old. It's been good so far and I'm looking forward to seeing him develop and hopefully take away something good from me or my teachings. We had a busy week of service with two food drives, a service project, and our usual car wash. We stayed busy and tried to have fun while helping out. Almost all the missionaries in our Zone purchased Nerf guns and we have been at constant war ever since. In a good way... usually. I've been able to reflect a lot lately about the fact that life can be hard and confusing sometimes. However, we've all been given strength and willpower to get through anything put before us. I know God loves us and He knows what we need. When our strength and willpower are not enough, He helps and supports us through our trials. He blesses us and our family and friends as we follow His counsel and strive to pass the tests placed before us. I love you all!! -Elder Smith This is the training letter my parents received from my Mission President: "Aloha Brother and Sister Smith, "Your missionary, Elder Smith, has continued to make excellent progress while serving in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission. Because of the great example of his teaching ability and the strength of his testimony, he has been called to train a new missionary. "The position of trainer only comes to missionaries who have demonstrated the highest level of trust, obedience, and diligence. A new missionary's trainer sets the standard and established the framework for the entirety of new missionary's mission experience. We have every confidence in Elder Smith and know that he will be a great blessing to his new companion, Elder Johnson. "May the Lord bless you for the support you give Elder Smith. It is a blessing to have him serving in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission. Sincerely, President and Sister Walker Mission President Hawaii Honolulu Mission"
Aloha Everyone! This week was busy because we had a Mission Conference and the church's annual General Conference and a bunch of other things that are starting up in the area. This week is transfer week! I found out I'll be staying in the same area, still be a District Leader, but losing my companion and be getting a new one. Actually, I will be training a brand new missionary, Elder Johnson. I don't know anything else about him other than that he will have to quarantine in Honolulu for 10 days first because his COVID test didn't get back in time. I am pretty nervous about training a new Elder. But, I know I can do it. I am also sad to be losing most of my favorite people from the Zone as it looks like most of them will be transferring away. A couple in particular really made the Zone a great place for me, so I now have to rely on enjoying the work to feel the Spirit and experience joy, if that makes sense. But enough of transfer news. This past week we had Mission Conference which went well. I got a haircut before the Conference to look my best, but ended up only getting the sides cut because I wasn't super sure of the skill or just how awake my barber was. I enjoyed Mission Conference and it was great to be able to see everyone on Oahu in the very first in-person conference in over a year! General Conference was also great. And for anyone who doesn't know what it is, it is a broadcast of quite a few of our church leaders giving talks and providing spiritual encouragement. It is such a blessing to be able to hear the words and advice of living apostles and prophets. If you haven't watched or listened to General Conference, I urge you do so. Their talks are available on YouTube! Everyone should listen, no matter who you are. I'll talk more about the talks in a latter email, but the thing that really stuck out to me was just how much God is hastening His work, even during a pandemic. Good people are finding the gospel of Christ in amazing ways. There were 20 new temples announced throughout the world. Nothing can or ever will stop the work of God's one true church here on the earth. I have a busy day ahead of me getting everything in my District settled. Gotta run! I love you all and hope you have an amazing week! -Elder Arick Smith
Aloha Everyone! I hope everything is going well for everyone. This week the work was still kind of slow, but time is going by way too fast for my liking. We made an effort to share the Family Mission Plan this week and we followed up with a few families. The last one we followed up with is an amazing family, the Hufanga family. It was super cool to be a part of their Family Home Evening. They also fed us. It was... fish.... but we're grateful for their generosity. Something that really made the evening better was singing with their family. They are a very awesome and talented Samoan family and the women can really sing. They did an arrangement of a song I'd never heard before and it was really great. We also sang a hymn and I forgot how much I miss singing with people. It was a truly great experience. I wish I could sing and do music as a career my whole life. Music is one of the biggest blessings in my life. God knew I need to be here where music is such a big part of life in general. I invite everyone to find that one thing it feels like God put on the earth just for you and then take a second to thank him for it in a prayer. I know God loves to hear from his children. We had a terrific experience on Saturday. We got permission to travel to Laie (normally considered a "red zone" for us missionaries because of all the sister missionaries stationed at the Temple visitors' center). We were able to go with Israel, who is a great guy who has made the commitment to start going back to church. We walked the temple grounds, sat, talked, and just enjoyed feeling the Spirit of the Lord there. It was pretty wonderful. The other part of that trip that I really enjoyed was seeing Laie where my Dad grew up. His family lived pretty close to the Temple and I got to take some pictures of his old house and even got to see Kahuku High School where he went to school, Waimea Bay, Pipeline, and some of the other places he and his family went to when they were living here. I even saw the banyan trees by the Temple where he swung on the vines. I shared the pictures and the experience with my Dad and he got pretty emotional. It was nice to be able to share that with him. Again, I know God is in charge of things and this experience was further evidence that He knows what He is doing. I'm grateful I get to serve as a missionary here in Hawaii. Again I love you all and I hope you have an amazing day and a wonderful week! Aloha! -Elder Smith
Aloha! I hope everyone has had a good week. This week went by fairly quickly for me. We didn't do much this week in terms of teaching and we kind of got destroyed when it came to our goals. But that's all good. We're working hard and will just try to to do better this next week. Last week we got to go to Pearl Harbor. We weren't able to get a spot on the boat to go see the Arizona memorial, so we'll have to schedule another time. It was a neat experience and I got some good pictures. We had District and Zone council on Tuesday. We also spent a lot of time this week working on developing Facebook content. It's an interesting way to do missionary work. Later in the week, we were able to attend the Sister missionaries' baptism and we tried to invite some of the people we're working with to that. We did some teaching via Zoom this week and also got to meet with the Kaohu family. The lesson went great and I'm hoping they will start coming back to church. Saturday was a very busy day. We helped with a food drive and I got soaked cause it rained the whole time. Then had lunch with the Larson family and had a lesson with the Hernaez family. They were very nice and we shared the family mission plan. They gave us mochi malasadas, they were the friggin' bomb, wow! Then we then went and helped at our weekly car wash. That night, we had dinner with Israel and tried to help give him the best counsel and guidance we could. We gave him another priesthood blessing of comfort and council and we're hoping to set up a time we can walk on the temple grounds with him. He is a inactive member trying to come back and change his life completely. I'm excited for him. After talking to several people this week, I've been reminded of the words of the current prophet, President Russell M. Nelson in the October 2020 General Conference. He gave a talk titled "Let God Prevail." One of the Hebraic meanings of the word Israel is “let God prevail.” "Now, my dear brothers and sisters, it takes both faith and courage to let God prevail. It takes persistent, rigorous spiritual work to repent and to put off the natural man through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It takes consistent, daily effort to develop personal habits to study the gospel, to learn more about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and to seek and respond to personal revelation." I know as we try to give God and Jesus Christ more time and influence in our lives, we will see a lot of blessings. I know these blessings come from a persistent daily effort to change or life's and give our will over to God . . . or letting God prevail in our lives. Again I hope everyone has had an amazing week and I hope this week is even better. Love you all! Aloha!!! Elder Smith
Aloha Everyone! I hope everyone is doing great this week. For anyone wondering, I am fine and safe. Last week's flooding here in Hawaii has not affected me where I live. And to everyone who didn't know about the flooding... surprise! There was mass flooding near me. We spent a lot of the week doing rescue/ relief efforts up in Waialua. We have easily spent more than half the week there. We collected supplies (food, clothes, blankets, water, shoes, etc.) and divided them out to those in need, and even helped people in their homes. (I helped carry three different 400-500 pound freezers filled with ice - the lady owned a shave-ice business - through a moat around someone's house. It was just me and the other missionary. I may have ruined some shoes and socks.) It was all a great experience getting to help people. But I'll also mention that it was a lot of work and very, very tiring. It's has always been amazing to see a community come together to help those in need. I have learned time and time again that it is truly a blessing to serve others, especially when they have gone through something devastating and terrible like these floods. The rest of the week we had lessons with both members and nonmembers, all of which went great. Jody is doing amazing in her studies and we learned just how strong her support group is by how many people have reached out to her. Someone even sent her a package with helpful study materials for her and church coloring books for her young nieces and nephews. It is amazing to see other people go out of their way to help others. Sometimes you don't realize how much it means to those you help. I hope everyone has had a great week and is doing all they can to serve others. I've been reminded of Mosiah 2:17 - "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." I love you all and hope that you will take my word for it and serve everyone around you. :) It will bless you and your family. I know it. I love you all and Aloha!!! - Elder Smith
Aloha Everyone! I hope everyone had an awesome week. My week was good but it was also a little slow. We taught a lot this week, but the lessons were longer than usual (which is good) and it made it feel like we did a lot more than we actually did. Nevertheless it was good. We set up a lot of lessons for this upcoming week so this week should be busier. I'll share some highlights from this week: First, we had a couple cool activities this week. One was Zone Exercise and the other was Zone Breakfast. The zone exercise was awesome because we played soccer indoors, and anyone who knows me knows that I love soccer! Its very awesome and I had an amazing time. The other activity was cool too. We all got breakfast and met up as a zone so it was cool to have more interaction with different people. Another cool thing happened yesterday. We got a last-minute invite to go to Br. Jamias house and to bring the guitars he is letting us borrow. He had someone there who is of a different faith, and he was an absolute legend on guitar. We all played and sang together and at the end of our jam session, we bore testimony to each other about the gospel, families, and the importance of following Christ. It was a great experience and it was cool to hear that because of what he heard and felt, an individual who hasn't been to church in 18 years finally wants to come back and become worthy to go to the temple. Now for the non-member guitar legend, he was cool and you can tell that he really loves God and wants to do the best he can to share good messages to those around him. Oh and he said I could keep the guitar he was letting me use for the jam session. I will be giving it back toward the end of my mission here. He said to keep it and use it to share our message. He is an absolutely amazing guy and I'm glad I got the chance to meet him. I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is necessary for us to return to live with God. One principle kept popping up this week over and over: the doctrine of eternal families. I know as we abide by God's commandments and keep the covenants we make in his one and only true church, we can be together eternally in our families. Only through Christ's church, with His proper authority is this possible. I invite everyone to please make sure, even as temples are shut down during COVID, that you continue to hold a current temple recommend. I know that God loves every single one of you and I hope that you realize just how much. He will put people in your path to help you find His restored gospel and ultimately be able to live with Him again. I love you all!!! Mahal ko kayo!!! (I'm practicing my Tagalog more because I'm using it more!) - Elder Smith
Aloha Everyone!! It's been a busy week or two. I wasn't able to email last week because it was transfer week. I was asked to serve as a District Leader, so that meant I had to make sure the missionaries in my district were all settled in. We ended up getting two new missionaries in our apartment which will be a big change. So far, they're not my favorite people, so God is putting us together for a reason. It should be an interesting transfer. Last week and this week were pretty good. We have been able to teach a lot of people, so that is great. It felt like some of my week was very long, but overall it went by quickly. Something I've learned quite a bit this week is that challenges are hard, but every challenge is there for you to learn from and to ultimately make you better. Hopefully you can survive the challenge so you can then know how to help others who might be experiencing something similar. My new assignment of being a District Leader is great. I have no issues with it and am actually looking forward to seeing how I can best help and serve others in my district. As I mentioned, the new Elders living in our apartment are . . . different. I won't complain, but I will say that I know that I can be an example. Hopefully they will see that example and change some of their behaviors and work ethic. We have been busy with car washes and service projects and other things to keep us busy and meeting other people. I ripped my shirt at one of our service projects, so that wasn't great. But it felt good to be able to help people. Last Sunday I got to speak in Sacrament meeting with my companion, Elder Gordon. The Wahiawa 1st Ward broadcasts their Sacrament meetings and I was able to send the link to my family so they could see me talk. Pretty cool! I wrote down my talk so I could share it with you. Hopefully you can benefit from some of it: Brothers and Sisters, Aloha!! I'm excited to talk with you all today. For those of you I haven't met yet, I'm elder Smith. I'm from Nashville Tennessee and I couldn't be happier to be here. If my companion and I haven't had the privilege of meeting any of y'all yet, I hope we get to do so in the near future. Today I'll be talking about Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's October 2020 General Conference take "Waiting on the Lord". Elder Holland said the following: "...faith means trusting God in good times and bad, even if that includes some suffering until we see His arm revealed in our behalf. That can be difficult in our modern world when many have come to believe that the highest good in life is to avoid all suffering, that no one should ever anguish over anything. But that belief will never lead us to “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” With apologies to Elder Neal A. Maxwell for daring to modify and enlarge something he once said, I too suggest that “one’s life … cannot be both faith-filled and stress-free.” It simply will not work “to glide naively through life,” saying as we sip another glass of lemonade, “Lord, give me all thy choicest virtues, but be certain not to give me grief, nor sorrow, nor pain, nor opposition. Please do not let anyone dislike me or betray me, and above all, do not ever let me feel forsaken by Thee or those I love. In fact, Lord, be careful to keep me from all the experiences that made Thee divine. And then, when the rough sledding by everyone else is over, please let me come and dwell with Thee, where I can boast about how similar our strengths and our characters are as I float along on my cloud of comfortable Christianity.” My beloved brothers and sisters, Christianity is comforting, but it is often not comfortable." From this part of Elder Holland's talk, I learned a few things. 1) We need trials and suffering in our lives to be able to reach our full potential. 2) Asking God to remove our trials is to misunderstand his divine plan. 3) Having faith alone isn't going to make our burdens light. Its actually quite the opposite. When we have faith, we believe that God is there, we believe that God loves us, and we believe that that every trial we go through is for our benefit because he loves us. Not to get off the topic of the talk, but I'm reminded of another talk by Elder Neal A Maxwell Where he talks about God's love for us. He starts of by saying that we accept a few truths all to casually. 1) This life is a testing ground. 2) Because God loves us so much, he placed us here at this point in time and space to face a particular set of challenges. "He will customize the curriculum" Brothers and sisters, God has given us all challenges, both personal and public, that we each must face. But God knows that we will be able to overcome it all. I too know this to be true. Mosiah 2:17 "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:41 "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." In short we need to follow God's commandments and serve those around us and we will make it through every trouble and trial in our lives. And no matter what comes we will continue to grow and have joy in our trials So I invite everyone within the sound of my voice to serve those around you. Brothers and sisters, I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. It is my testimony that Christ lives and will help us as we go through our trials. He will also help us understand how to assist others as they go through their own trials... Again, I hope this was helpful. I love you all!!! Thank you for all you do for me. -Elder Smith
