The Life Of Me

A Two Year Dream

2011-12-23T23:17:00.005-07:00

Thus has ended my two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. These past two years has felt simply like a dream. It slipped right by and before I knew it, here I am at home typing my "concluding" mission entry. It feels like yesterday, December 9, 2009 that I typed my first entry as a full time missionary, and within that span of time, I have seen many miracles and amazing things happen. I served my last year in two areas, and they became my two favorite areas. Kaneohe 3/6, and Lihue Kaua'i. The Kaneohe 3/6 area was such a terrific area and I truly learned how to love others, and how to develop charity towards my fellow brethren. I served 7 months in the Lihue ward, where I found many people who became like my family.
My whole mission was filled with people who would change my life, and I hope that I have changed theirs. When I first began, the hardest thing I did was to say goodbye to my family and leave 19 years of my life behind. Now after two years, the hardest thing I had to do was say goodbye to my other family in Hawai'i. To put the official stamp on my last entry I would like to post lyrics to a song titled "The Hardest Thing I've Ever Loved To Do"

The hardest thing I ever loved to do
was letting go of everything I ever knew
nineteen years of dreams left in my room
as I buttoned up the jacket of my suit
The hardest word I’ve ever loved to say
was goodbye to my mom and walk away
choking on my tie and on my tears
as I walked down the hall into those years
the sweetest song I’ve ever loved to sing
filled the MTC on angel’s wings
the chorus filled my soul 5000 strong
and I wished it would just go on and on
the firmest hand I’ve ever loved to shake
was my trainer’s with that big grin on his face
he grabbed my bag and put his arm ‘round me
and whispered
"I’m gonna work those Mr. Macs right off your feet"
The hardest words I’ve ever anguished for
came just before some lady slammed her door
my trainer left me hanging out to dry
ans a minute of painful silence rolled right by
but the hardest tears I ever loved to cry
fell as I opened up my mouth and testified
between the tiny walls of a stranger’s living room
the Spirit told their hearts my words were true
the most wonderful sound I’ve ever heard
is the sound of water running in the church
as someone I’d come to love got dressed in white
my eyes saw their first glimpse of Heaven’s light
the hardest thing I’ve ever come to see
is a man down on his knees in agony
a drop of blood falls down on olive leaves
and for a moment he suffers there for me
the hardest thing I’ve ever loved to do
was getting on this plane and coming home to you
in a million ways completely torn apart
as a land so far away still owns my heart
in the most sincere prayer I’ve ever prayed
I thank my God for each and every day
for the blessing of the man I’ve come to be
as I walk up and kiss my mama’s cheek.

I am so grateful for the time I had to serve, and I know that God lives and He sent His son Jesus Christ to prepare a way for us to return to live with Him. I promise all of you if you follow His teachings and His commandments, you truly will be taken care of. I know this for a fact!!! I love this gospel and Jesus Christ. Mele Kalikimaka!!

P.S. Don't worry, I'll still be doing a blog :)

Final Week As A Full-Time Missionary

2011-12-12T21:51:00.010-07:00

ALOHA!!
What a week what a week!! It was my final full week as a missionary. I gave up, I didn't work much this week. What's the point? Going home in a week, it was tough, so I just kinda..slept a lot!! Just Kidding!!WE HAD A BAPTISM!!! I was hoping so hard I would have a baptism before I left, and I did!! It was for Beverly L***!! She was baptized on Saturday and it was a very special experience!! We fasted with her last Sunday to help things get moving, and she told us on Tuesday she'd do everything it takes to get baptized on Saturday! She asked me to perform the ordinance, and so it was a deep honor for me to be able to do that for her. It was an awesome, awesome week!! So
Beverly was baptized :)
Rest assured, I worked hard don't worry haha. We were able to get things done, and in the process I was able to get ready for my flight next week. Sunday was a rather special day too. We had the confirmation of Beverly, and then I was able to say goodbye to a lot of members. Kalaheo ward held a farewell party for me and Sister Kamada (she's leaving the area) too. I was able to see a lot of the members from my greenie area!! Not a lot of missionaries get to do that haha. On top of that, I got to call a bunch of members to invite them to the airport on Thurday evening. It was good to talk to members again such as the Pasikala's, Jackola's, Barkdull's, and Jay's. Many more too, I made a lot of phone calls!! Well, for this upcoming final week, I will spend tomorrow in the field, but than will fly to O'ahu on Wednesday. From there we'll go to the Temple, Polynesian Culture Center, and the Swap Meet. Thursday, we'll get to go to Pearl Harbor and see the USS Missouri, Arizona, and Bowfin Submarine! Than I'll fly out at 10 pm to land in Salt Lake City in the morning. What a ride it has been these past 2 years, from Kaua'i to O'ahu to Utah, to O'ahu, and back to Kaua'i. I can't believe 2 years have passed. I thank ALL of you for your support and encouragement the past 24 months, and am eternally grateful for this opportunity I have had to serve on a mission. I'm grateful for all the members, investigators, miracles, and the hand of God that has been involved in this work so many times!! I know without a doubt this church is true, and that Jesus is our Savior. I love Him and am grateful for His love.
I'll see you all this week.

Much love and Aloha

This is the last post by Elder Travis' mom. From this point on he will be posting after he gets home and is released from being a full-time missionary. We're so pleased that he will be returning with honor soon.
Elder Travis' Mom

"My Heart Is In Kauai And I Love It Here"

2011-12-05T18:43:00.007-07:00

Alooooha

How are ya'll doing this week?

We had quite a week!! We had my final zone conference. It was a good Christmas Zone Conference. We watched "17 Miracles", and it was quite a movie. It made me cry, it was very powerful and I truly am proud of my ancestors who crossed the plains in the snow. What courage that took. We are soo so lucky to not have to suffer with any of this. We are SO blessed these days to have a better sense of "Freedom of Religion" than the poor saints in the 1800's.

Yesterday was my final fast and testimony meeting with the ward. I got up and thanked the ward for all the support they've given me. They have grown to become my family, and I love them so much for all they've done for me. Next week will be a very emotional goodbye as I officially say goodbye on Sunday.
(Pictured above: Elder Travis with the Stake Presidency in Kauai)

We have been working with Beverly, and she just wants to get baptized so bad, but she has those small things to work out. So we decided to fast with her on Sunday for a hope that a miracle could happen!! We fasted together and now we are full or prayers that she may be baptized sometime soon. I'm hoping for one final miracle to end my mission. But if not, it's in the Lord's hands and I continually see miracles every day!!
It is very weird to think that my mission will be ending next week and I'll be back in Utah. This is my last week before I fly to O'ahu and get ready for my flight home. I have very mixed emotions, even as I write this, to those thoughts. Only missionaries leaving the mission can understand, I want to stay, my heart is in Kaua'i, and I love it here, but on the same end, it's time to go home and get to a normal life and begin a new journey. But on the same end, I love this gospel so much I want to dedicate every day to living it like I have as a missionary. It's just weird, but it will be good to be with family once again, especially for Christmas.Aside from that, things are going good, and this week will be filled with goodbyes and farewells. I am excited for Sunday when Kalaheo ward (my first area) will hold a farewell party for me, and I'll get a chance to say goodbye to them. That same day I get to call members from my old areas on O'ahu (Kailua, Kahala, and Kaneohe) to invite them to see me off at the airport!

Well, I love you all and thanks for all you've done for me. I love this gospel and know it's true!! Hope to see you at my homecoming in two weeks and to talk to you soon!!

"What A Week"

2011-11-28T19:19:00.005-07:00

Alooooha!

What a week, what a week. First off, you wouldn't believe this, but Hawaii actually gets cold in the winter time. The temp has dropped to about 70 degrees with a 'lil bit of a windy breeze. I'm actually cold right now. We don't turn on the fans and keep the A/C to a minimum. My feet are cold right now, I'm trying to stay warm. How, oh how will I survive a winter in Utah? Pray for me...haha

We had a pretty good week!! Things with Beverly are still good, she really wants to get baptized. It's just the last obstacle we're trying to work through. She'll make it someday though!!
We found a new lady to teach, Pam! She's a nice lady, she approached us in WalMart and told us to come by, so we did!! We taught her part of the Restoration last night and invited her to church. She said she would come. She lives within walking distance of the church and so she is super close. She's a nice elderly lady.

We also met a girl named Brianne. She was at our dinner appointment last night, and so we sat down and had a good lesson with her!! We taught her the Plan of Salvation, and it answered a lot of questions she had. She's been taught a lot from other churches and was confused on a few concepts, we tried to help her understand. She has great potential to be baptized!! Maybe before I leave? We'll see haha. She's a freshmen in High School and is a nice girl!

We have Zone Conference tomorrow. My last one too, I'll be giving my last testimony too, that's going to be kinda weird but...it's time I guess! We are having Christmas Zone Conference, so it will be kinda...unreal. It is hard to believe I have 2 full weeks left. I'll say the same thing next week too..

Thanksgiving was really good too. We had three dinners, my goodness that stuffed me haha. I gained like 5 lbs, but I worked it off with the good 'ol Turkey Bowl!! (Go Aggies!!!!)

Other than that, that was it!! Time has been crazy fast, and I'm working hard till the end. I love you all and thanks for all your support!!!

Hope to hear from you soon!!!!

Love and Aloha,

"Trunky" Papers

2011-11-21T20:37:00.007-07:00

Aloooha!

How are you doing?!
This week has been weird. First off, I received my "trunky" papers which tells you your flight information, as well as your schedule for the last few days as a missionary!! I'll fly to O'ahu on the 14th of December, than hit up PCC (Polynesian Culture Center) and the temple and Swap meet. Thursday, I'll see Pearl Harbor, than head off to the airport on my way home. Very weird to even think about.

Three more weeks remain as a missionary, 3 full weeks at least. It's very sad to see time come so close to an end, but I'll say the same thing next week, than the next, than the next. It is very fast! As always.

We had a wonderful dinner at the Marriott with a family touring from California. We went to Dukes, which was a super, super nice place. I was on exchanges with Elder Turina that night, so we feasted on the food that was there. It was delicious!!!
Beverly is doing good. We had her baptism scheduled for this past week, but it fell through because we're trying to help her live a special commandment which includes not living in the same place as your boyfriend, only if you're married. So we are trying to help her, once she does that she is good to go!! She is a wonderful lady and the ward really loves her!!! She definitely wants to get baptized!!
We have Thanksgiving coming up this week as well. We have dinner with three families, and one of those might include Kendall. Not sure if you'll remember him from a couple months ago. But there is a possibility there could be a baptism this week. He wants to, I know that much, we just need to set it up!!!

Other than that, we have so much potential for baptisms in Lihue these last few weeks, we just need to get it moving. I have faith that there will be at least one before I leave.

Thanks for all your support and I look forward to hearing from you, if anything in 3 weeks.

I also want to issue a challenge: that is to seek for a testimony of our living day prophet, Thomas S. Monson. The best way to develop this testimony is to study his teachings (lds.org) and to sincerely pray and ask if he has been selected as a special witness of Jesus Christ. The reason I issue this is because if we can have a firm testimony that he is a prophet and God speaks to him, than when Thomas S. Monson has some special council to give us we will be ready to listen and heed to the calls or warnings he gives us!!

I love you all and thanks again for all you do!!!

Hope to hear from you soon!

Grateful To Be A Missionary

2011-11-15T18:03:00.008-07:00

Aloooha!!!

What a week!!! This was a fun week!! We've been working so hard for a baptism. I hope to have at least one more before the mission is over. It's God's will though and I've been so lucky to see so many already!!!

We had ZLC on O'ahu yesterday. I saw a lot of good friends like Elder Garritson, Elder Coffin, Elder Taylor, Elder Edwards, and others. I had to give my dying testimony in ZLC and that was a very awkward feeling. Getting ready to leave is VERY bittersweet. I've worked hard my last 2 years in the mission, and I have grown to love it here SO much. But I can feel that it's time to go back and get to normal life too. As much as I want to stay and work here, I can tell it's time for me to be back in Utah. I hope that makes sense.By the way family, thanks so much for taking the family pictures. That means a lot to me!! I've done something with them and will show you when I get home.

We are still working with Beverly. She really wants to get baptized, she just needs to do something about her family situation!! She's super solid though and really amazing. We're working on a few others as well, we have potential for baptisms, we just have to get them moving. We're going to work hard for it in November, and hopefully December!!!

Thanksgiving is coming up next week!! I'm excited because I will be able to spend time with families that mean a lot to me!! It will be a fun day!!

Aside from those things, that is really it. Not too much to really report, I'm just working hard to trying my best to see many great things happen.

We also saw Elder Dalit off on his mission to New Zealand. He's going to be such a a great missionary and is going to do so much good for the people there. I'm so excited for him and whoever his companions are going to be are very, very lucky!! He's going to be the BEST missionary because he's humble, and has the spirit!!! I love the kid!!I'm so grateful to be a missionary and to have served here in the mission of Hawaii for the past 24 months. I love this gospel and know with ALL of my heart it is TRUE. Voices have proclaimed to me otherwise and tried to distract and tear me down!! But I know, because God has told me, that the Book of Mormon is true. I will never deny it! I promise the world if they read it sincerely and pray about it, they WILL come closer to Christ in ways they never have before. I love our Savior Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father. They will always be my first priority in life, and I will always be grateful for their unconditional love.

Love you all and hope all is well!

"It's Completely Worth Every Minute"

2011-11-07T18:54:00.009-07:00

Aloooooha!!!

How are ya'll doing??Man, Hawaii is amazing, that's all I'll say!! First off, I can't believe that my 23-month mark is coming on Wednesday. That means I have 1 more month to serve as hard as I can!! It's kinda interesting how some people say, "That's a long time to just go teach people!" But I always tell them, it's completely worth every minute and day. When we see people change their life completely for God, it's worth it. To see that person become happier, and more peaceful, I know I'm doing my job as a missionary.
In my email last week I mentioned Brayden and his baptism. It didn't go through because his mother was in the hospital the whole day. So we tried to reschedule, and so the day of his baptism (Saturday) it STORMED!!! Stormed like I've never seen here on Kaua'i!! Rain like crazy, flash floods, THUNDER as loud as heaven, it was wild. So it was canceled. We'll work with him, and hopefully soon he'll agree. We're praying for him!!
We've begun teaching this wonderful lady named Beverly. Our first lesson with her was on Tuesday and she said that for years she's been searching for a church that offers peace and happiness. She's been baptized many times, but can't seem to find the church she believes Jesus Christ established 2000 years ago. She came to the "Mormon" church with her member boyfriend and she says her search has ended. We've scheduled a baptism for her this month and she is so excited for that day. She's wonderful and is such a nice lady. She's older, but is like a grandma to us!! Her boyfriend's ex-wife was the one that passed away from a bad accident last month where our former Bishop was involved. If I mentioned it, after priesthood session we gave a blessing to our former Bishop because he got in a bad car wreck where a lady was killed. That was his ex-wife. So that's drawn him back to the church which is another cool story to see. They are happy and excited about "Eternal Families" and how they can live together as a family forever.
Aside from those, we are working to have a good month here in November. We're praying for some miracles to happen because I'd love to finish my mission on a strong note. And if we don't have too many than that's ok!! I've been so blessed to see so many people come closer to Christ here in Lihue. I am so grateful for this gospel and I KNOW it is true. I know Joseph Smith saw God our Heavenly Father again, and His son Jesus Christ. He was led by direct communication on how to restore Christ's church YEARS after it was lost. I'm grateful we have the Book of Mormon to provide a solid evidence of this truth. Anyone who reads it sincerely will come to know these same things by themselves.

Love you all and hope to hear from you soon!!!!

Final Transfer

2011-10-31T19:56:00.006-06:00

Aloha!!!!

Well....A big big BIG weight is off my shoulders. I now know where and who I will finish my mission with. I no longer have to worry about walking areas, new areas, or crazy people!! We had transfer news come in last night, and I'm the happiest cat around. I will be finishing my mission in the Lihue, Kaua'i area. I was born in Kalaheo Kaua'i, and will finish in Lihue Kaua'i!!! I'm so excited to die where I was born! (Mission lingo). I've spent a wonderful 9 months on this island, and will spend 6 more weeks here!!!!

Unfortunately, I wont' finish with Elder Coffin. It will be with an Elder named Elder Entz (spelling?). He is about 9 months out, and I will train him as a Zone Leader. He will be my 3rd zone leader I've trained. So, I'm excited for a new transfer!! I am sad Elder Coffin is going. I spent 18 weeks with him. He's a funny kid and cracks me up. I've enjoyed being with him a lot, ad we've really learned how to get along!! It will be sad leaving him. He's taking off to Waipahu O'ahu, which is west side.

As far as our week. I have never ever had a week as a missionary that was so stressful, so crazy, so wild, but so rewarding, and so blessed. We had the last week of October and the transfers, and 4 baptisms scheduled. To start the week off, we were scared that Sheri was going to drop! We went through A LOT to finally feel comfortable that she would actually get baptized. It's hard to explain, but we had a lot of opposition that we had no control over. But we overcame it, and Sheri and Elijah were baptized on Saturday!! Their son, Brayden, dropped out last minute because he is very shy and very quiet. He was nervous to come. So we talked to him yesterday and we're going to try to do a service for him today at 4. We'll pray that it will happen!!!

Here is the awesome miracle of the week however. I mentioned last week, Tim ***. We had a lesson with him Monday night, and it was such an awesome lesson. The spirit was so strong and we could feel it, he could too!!! We told him about how we prayed for him to get baptized that weekend, and Natalia called us 30 seconds later telling us he wanted to get baptized. We told him that we took that as a sign and Heavenly Father would like to see him get baptized on Saturday. He looked kind of puzzled and said, "I was thinking of next week Saturday, but this week will be ok too!" Tears filled his new wife's eyes as he said these words, and we testified to the importance of him taking this step, and the blessings that will be coming into his life because of it. So we had his baptism on Saturday, and it was awesome!!!! I'm so, so, SO blessed and humbled to have been a part of this, because now he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, along with his wife Natalia and their daughter Jaeisha. Elder Coffin and I were able to play a part in their conversion, and saw this wonderful family baptized.

Aside from that, that's really all that happened!! We are finding great potential for November baptisms to finish my mission off!! I'm excited for these last 6 weeks, and will work harder than ever to see great things happen!! I want my last transfer to be like Elder Barraza's, baptism after baptism!! If it's the Lord's will and I am obedient and diligent, it'll happen!! I love this work and am so grateful to be a part of it!!!

Love you all, and hope to hear from you soon!!!

Jumping Out Of Our Seats With Excitement

2011-10-25T09:01:00.003-06:00

Aloha!!

How are ya'll doing!!

We had such a great week. Kinda trying though. We were going to have a baptism last weekend, but we pushed it back a week to help them prepare!! It'll be a big crunch time this week because it's the last week of the month and our mission really would love to see 115 baptisms this month. (That'd be a record in the mission) but, we also have to make sure they are worthy strong converts to the church!!! We starting teaching Allisah, she is 11 years old and is so smart!!! She wants to get baptized this weekend, we just need her mothers approval. That might be tricky, but we'll see. Just pray for her :) haha. She really wants to and is super super smart!!!!

We started teaching a recent convert's new husband. At the end of July, Natalia was baptized with Jaeisha. She married Tim, and now we are teaching him. He is a super super humble guy, and is a wonderful guy!! He's been coming to church and we've really seen the spirit emulate in him. He's ready to go!! He just needs a date!! It was awesome, because we prayed this morning and asked Heavenly Father to help him be ready to be baptized this week if it's His will. Literally 30 seconds later, we received a phone call from Natalia and she said, "Tim wants to be baptized, it could happen in the next two weeks!" Elder Coffin and I jumped out of our seat and we were so excited!! We are pushing for 10 baptisms in Kauai, and we are ALMOST there, it'll take a miracle, but it can happen. Kauai hast had ten baptisms in a month for YEARS!! The mission is doing extremely well!!! We've had 66 baptisms so far, and we have 61 scheduled this weekend. We are really trying to hit 115 this month!! We're trying. But we are super super excited about Tim!! That is a super true miracle!!!

Otherwise, this is the last week of the transfer!! My last transfer starts next week. I am really praying to finish here on Kaua'i. That'd be cool to be "born" on this island and "die" here too. We'll find out on Sunday, and I'll find out who I finish my mission with!! It'd be cool to finish it with Elder Coffin, I'll just have to wait and see!!

I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!!!

For Time And All Eternity - The Jays

2011-10-17T20:33:00.007-06:00

Aloooha!!

How are you all doing? I'm swell!! I must say, I love love this beautiful island of Kaua'i. This morning we did a hike, Powerline, and we had such a beautiful view from Ana Hoala to Poi Pu. This is the most beautiful spot on earth. I'm so thankful to be here, I hope I finish my mission here!!
Anyways, onto the missionary work!! Kaua'i is doing wonderful!! We have seen so many miracles this week. It's looking like this family is going to get baptized on Saturday, and we are so excited for that to happen!!! She reads and prays everyday with her kids now!! We'll see how this new week goes huh??

We also found some good potential for a baptism next week. We've had this little girl come to church the past few months, and we finally FINALLY was able to meet with her. We asked her if she wants to get baptized and she said yes!! So we set it for the 29th. That just might happen too!! We'll see how it goes :) Fingers crossed!!!

The mission is really pushing for 115 baptisms in October. We've had 45 so far in the month, and have 99 scheduled to finish off October. The Hawaii Honolulu mission record is 108 set in May 2010. So with the fall out rate, we could see 115 reached with these others. We need 70 wonderful converts to stay strong. We are so excited, but it's definitely crunch time in the mission!!!

Otherwise, things in Lihue are going very well. We are looking at maybe 5 baptisms over the next two weeks!!! We have a transfer coming up in 2 weeks, so I hope and pray to finish my mission here!!!!!

Also, about a year ago, was the baptism of Brother and Sister Jay. They just passed through the Laie Temple on Saturday (The 15th) and were sealed for time and all eternity. This is very special and important to me, because this is the ultimate goal for all our wonderful recent converts...is entering the temple. I wish so bad I could have been there, but I was on a different island. But nevertheless, it was special to hear from, and I know that generations will be blessed because of these two wonderful people who I consider my Ohana.

Well, I love you all, hope all is well and hope to hear from some of you soon!!!

"The Story Of My Mission"

2011-10-16T15:52:00.005-06:00

Aloha!!!

What a fantastic week we had!! We had such an amazing week, it's hard to know where to start.
I guess I'll start with the bad news first. Melissa and Coral moved to California, so we are no longer teaching them for obvious reasons! However the Lord supplied us with more people to teach!!!
The greatest news we have is about Hilton! I found him as a greenie missionary, and than yesterday, after 21 months of investigating, he was baptized. I was very honored to baptize him, and it was such a blessing to be able to do so. It was a powerful baptism and he felt the spirit strong! His wife wasn't able to attend, but his kids did!! I told Hilton he's the story of my mission, and he is!! I found him when I was 1 month out into the field, and now he's baptized!! It was a very special day! He's probably the reason I stayed on Kaua'i for one more transfer.

We have been working with a family to get them baptized, and they are still on track for the 22nd. Kinda funny because Hilton's brother, Larry, is dating her and he came to church on Sunday!!! Ya never know what'll happen!! Maybe I can baptize his brother too haha.

We also were able to invite a keiki to baptism on the 22nd as well. His parents don't' seem to really have an issue with us or the church, so that might just take place!!

Other than that, we sure are working hard here in Lihue and doing our best to build up the kingdom of God here in this beautiful stake of Zion. I love this island, and it was so so nice to be back in Kalaheo around my old ward!! I can't wait to come back to visit and see them again!!!
Love you all and hope to hear from you soon!!!

Aloha!

2011-10-05T10:32:00.003-06:00

Aloooooha!

We have had an amazing week!! I feel the dark cloud over our area has officially lifted. We had ZLC on O'ahu yesterday, and so we flew back to Kaua'i late into the night, and arrived just in time for a lesson we had!! We sat down with a wonderful mother of 2 children (She came to Chris' baptism) and we invited them to be baptized. They accepted and I was humbled that God has led us to a family to find and baptize. She readily accepted and had no concerns. Her date is the 22nd of October, and we are very excited to see what can happen!! I'm glad we have some solid solid potential now!!

Anyways, ZLC was really nice. I said goodbye to a lot of great friends. Some have met me when I was 3 months in the field, a year, or even 14 months. But I said goodbye, and hope to see them at my farewell!! I love them and am proud of the service they have given as a missionary!!Other than that, we're teaching a family tonight and maybe we can find even more potential. I'm excited to see what else Lihue can pull out. We have the potential we just have to try and capture it!!!
I'll take this time to express my gratitude for the prophets and apostles who lead this church. I love our leaders and am so thankful for the great counsel we were given this past week. Elder Holland never ceases to amaze me. Elder Andersen gave an amazing talk!!

Also a shout out to my wonderful Kaneohe Ohana. I miss all of you, and can't wait to visit again!! I love you all!! You have some excellent missionaries in your area and they are DEDICATED!!

I also had my almost final interview with President. Kinda weird having him talk to me about school and women and so on. I guess at some point the mission really does end.
I love you all, hope to hear from you soon!!!!

Aloha!

2011-09-26T18:48:00.002-06:00

Alooooha!!!We had a better week from the past few weeks!!!

We had a baptism for Chris yesterday!! I was surprised we were able to pull it off!!!! Chris asked me to baptize him, so it was my honor to baptize him. It was a special day for their family. They weren't coming to church, and now they are coming and Chris is very excited about church and everything now. It's been a true miracle :)

I also have very very good news about Hilton!!!! His wife came to church last week, and decided that the Mormon church isn't a "crazy cult" and has given him permission to get baptized. It will be on October 9. I'm excited to be able to attend and see this wonderful event take place!!
On that note as well, Lana, someone I taught while in Kalaheo, was baptized yesterday as well!! She has been taught for about 3 years and finally decided to just get baptized and knew that it was right. I wanted to attend her baptism, but I couldn't because of Chris', which is ok too.

On other notes, we weren't able to meet with Melissa. Hopefully this week we can sit down with her and have a good chat with her.

Michelle was super busy at work, so we weren't able to meet with her either. But the big events at work are over after today, so we should meet with her and get things going for her again!! We're still excited for her and to see the direction we can get going with her!!!

We had a cool little miracle happen as well!! A little keiki came to church last week, Kainoa. He's not a member, he just rode his bike by on Sunday and decided to check it out!! He knew a few kids at church, and we met with him on Thursday. We had him take us to his parents home and we met them. They were super friendly and don't seem to really have an issue with him coming to church or even to get baptized. They are even interested themselves in learning. So we have a good potential for a miracle with a family!! We're praying and hoping something awesome can happen with them!!! We'll find out how that goes.

I'm very excited for General Conference this weekend. It's such a wonderful opportunity to hear our Prophet and Apostles speak to the whole world. They speak God's will and help us know what we need to do to prepare ourselves to meet God!! I promise all of you who read this, that if you have a question you want answered, and you watch conference, it WILL be answered directly. I've had it happen every time!!! You just have to be willing to watch it!!!

Love you all and hope to hear from you!!!

Transfer Week

2011-09-22T16:36:00.003-06:00

Alooooooooha!!

How are you all doing?!! I'm fine and dandy in this beautiful Kaua'i island!!! We just had transfers pop up on us. I was very very surprised to hear the news. I wasn't expecting to have this happen!! All week, I've been trying to figure out if I'd go or stay, I've prayed to try to accept Father's will if it's something different than mine. Well, luckily this time, it was the same as mine. I will be staying in Lihue Kaua'i for another 6 weeks, serving with Elder Coffin. It's a strange feeling because I've never served with a companion for three transfers, and never been in an area for four transfers. So it will be different than usual, but that's ok :) We're seeing success!!!As far as our week goes!! We are seeing some amazing things happen. Chris, who we've been working with for a while, walked up to us in church and asked if he could be baptized this next Sunday!! We of course said yes, and so we should have a baptism this Sunday if all goes well :). Hilton's wife was also able to go to church in Kalaheo and seemed to have liked it. So it's a possibility that he could be baptized sometime soon!!! It's awesome! There is also another lady I worked with in Kalaheo, Lana, that is getting baptized soon!! I'm excited, I'll make sure to be there for that one :)
On our end in Lihue, Michelle is doing good. She had to work all week, so we were unable to meet with her, but we should meet with her this week. I'm excited to teach her again and she's a wonderful daughter of God.

Melissa is in a tough situation. She's in a not so good situation at home, so we are working with her to help her and hopefully see her baptized. She wants to go to California in a few weeks, and I'm determined to, with her choice, to see her be baptized before she leaves. She's been a big miracle of my mission, and that would be so amazing. If she doesn't than that's ok too, the missionaries in California can harvest that part of the vineyard. We'll see how it turns out!!
Elder Tiakia is leaving to go back to O'ahu!! He did very well this transfer and I'm proud of him. I've grown to love him and love his culture. I hope the best for him and I know he will be a great missionary if he stays on track!!

Elder Coffin is a goofball, but I sure love the kid. We've had fun together, we've seen hard times but also miracles, and we will continue to!!!

Elder Parker is leaving Kaneohe zone, and he's always been a close friend of mine. So Grandma Martinson, if you can shout out to him that I love him and he's the best Elder!!!

Other than that, I'm so glad to stay in Kaua'i. When I first left Kaneohe, I simply did NOT want to go. I loved that ward, so many wonderful families, and it was difficult to separate myself from them. When I first came to Lihue, I was a little turned off cuz I didn't want to get close to anyone and be separated again, but that was bound to happen. I love this ward just like Kaneohe, and it's full of wonderful people!! We'll see what can happen over the next 6 weeks, and ya never know...maybe I'll finish my mission in Kaua'i where I began it :)

Love ya'll!!! Write me sometime soon!!!

Rollercoaster Week

2011-09-15T11:03:00.006-06:00

Aloooha!!

We had a somewhat roller coaster week this week!! I don't know what to think of our week!!
On Monday, we got a call from Michelle and she told us she wasn't interested anymore and didn't want to be baptized. It set a rain cloud over our whole week. We were discouraged, but didn't lose faith. We were wondering what could have happened, what could have made such an amazing daughter of God, drop like that. Well....Sunday morning she called us and told us that she was coming to church and wanted to talk to us!! So we did after sacrament, and her and I had a very good chat. She expressed she was ashamed to tell us she couldn't stop smoking and was attacked by her co workers and mom, and didn't have any answers to their questions. But she told me, and my heart rested, that she was committed and wanted to be baptized. She has to overcome smoking, and once she does, she is good to go!! She said she really had to review her self and make sure this was something she wanted to commit to. Now it is!!
Melissa's baptism date is set for Saturday. This could possibly fall though, we're not too sure. She has to move out, sounds like she's preparing too. We'll see what can happen. She knows she has to, and she wants to, so she is making steps to prepare for it. She knows God will take care of her. She is thinking of going to California and just leaving all together, and I told her she needs to be baptized before she does so she can have the gift of the Holy Ghost!! It'll be an interesting week this week, so we'll see!!! She's an awesome lady!!!

Other than that, it's been a busy week. We kept busy and are working as hard as we possibly can. We need to find more people to teach, so we're going to make it a big focus this week, and work with our members to make it happen. We'll see the results that can come from it huh!?

All in all, it's been a good week. We have transfers this next week, so next time I'm on I'll have the results from that. We'll see how it goes and maybe we can see a miracle happen and I'll stay in Lihue. I think I've bugged President and Elder Garritson enough with that haha.

I love ya guys and let me know if there is anything I can do to help you!!!

Signs of Kauai

2011-09-09T18:07:00.016-06:00

While on a hike on P-day Travis found this sign.
You'd think after the first set of five, people would have heeded this warning. This is the area where the sign sits. It's so beautiful and looks so peaceful that I'm sure that's why people attempted to go there and ended up as a mark on the board when they didn't make it. Isn't that how Satan reels us into sin? Sometimes he makes sin look so beautiful and inviting and you think there's no harm in going there."U turn for Christ" sign that he saw along the highway.I hope you can read this bumper sticker, if not it says "Try Wait."They do have unique bumper stickers.This made me smile and I thought of the "greenies" who are new to the mission field.
Sadly, this could be my bumper sticker too!

New Record of 57 Lessons Taught!

2011-08-29T19:46:00.007-06:00

Aloooohaaaaa!!!!How are you wonderful people!!

We had such a marvelous week, I honestly do not know where to start, so I'll attempt to try!!

Last week, a friend of the Keeler's, Michelle, came to church and we set up an appointment with her. We had our first lesson with her on Monday night. She is so prepared to accept the gospel!! She is excited to be baptized and she is embracing everything the gospel has to offer. We set a baptism date for her for September 10. Next week!! We are super stoked for her and so excited to see what can happen with her!!!

We also had 57 lessons this week. We put Elder Tiakia to work. We took Kekoa, who received his mission call to New Zealand, and went out on splits every hour of every day almost. Thank you Koa for your sacrifice and helping us achieve this amazing goal!!!!!

We also happened to have an amazing miracle. I mean...AMAZING. Melissa came to church on Sunday with her family. We helped Melissa pick up a piano from the west side of the island, and move it to her house. She was very appreciative of it, and so her, her husband, and daughter came to church on Sunday. This was Melissa's second time coming. She had a huge migraine and almost didn't come, but she felt she needed to. She stayed all three hours, and after Relief Society she told me she had an amazing story to tell me, and her daughter, Coral wanted to tell me too!! We had a meeting that we had to go to, but I sent Elder Coffin and Tiakia to it so I could talk to her. She told me that everything has been falling into place for her the past few weeks since she's been meeting with us. She just got a dog and cat that are perfect for her, as she says. She lost the dog however a few days ago. As expected, she was devastated, and so was Coral. They looked everywhere for it. After hours of looking, Melissa prayed and begged Heavenly Father to help her find him. She said, "I'll believe and get rid of my doubts." After her prayer, shortly afterwards, she found the dog. She knew that it wasn't just a convenience, but that God was blessing her. She told me she only sees good in this church and wasn't expecting everyone to be so kind. She began to cry and said, "I know the church is true, and I want to be baptized. When can I get baptized?" I'll admit, I began to cry and testified of how God is blessing her because she is allowing the gospel into her life. We set a baptism date for the 17, and Coral was very VERY excited to do it as well. This is a TRUE miracle, since day 1 to today, she has changed so much and she seems happier. She is amazing, and I'm so so excited for the 17. This will be the first baptism from me knocking on a door, and teaching them from front to back. Who would have thought that a daughter of Heavenly Father was behind that door searching for three years, and her daughter would follow? I have faith eventually the husband as well. He's accepting and isn't against it, so we should be ok.On that note, we also had someone come to church Sunday asking for a "Mormon Bible" (The Book of Mormon) and wants to be baptized too. We'll see how that goes :)
So yes, Lihue ward continues to move forward. This was the best week of my life. We saw so many miracles, and we continue to see more!! If all goes well, we'll have 4-5 baptisms in September!! I'm excited!!

We are also getting an AC for our pad!! I'm excited cuz it's been toasty lately!! Good week in Lihue!!!

I love you all, let me know if I can help you in any way :)

"Better and Better and Better!!!"

2011-08-23T12:40:00.012-06:00

Edit By Elder Travis' Mom: I just got his memory card and it was filled with so many gorgeous pictures of Kauai that I decided to post some of them today instead of pictures of people.

Aloha!!!

My goodness, these weeks just get better, and better and better!!!
Yesterday was the wedding of one of my favorite families, the Keelers!! (Yes, and the Renaud!). They are a wonderful, wonderful family and so full of the spirit and they were radiating yesterday!! It was an exciting day for me!! Especially since August 21 was President Monson's birthday, and the year mark to the Jay's baptism in Kahala.Sister Keeler also brought her friend to church! Her name is Michelle, and she called her up telling her she was ready to go to church with her!! She's a nice lady, and we'll be meeting with her tonight. We're going to invite her to be baptized, so we are very excited to see what can happen!!!
Melissa came to church!!! She brought her daughter as well, and we are so excited for them. We had such an awesome lesson with Melissa on Saturday. She struggles with her belief in Christ as our Savior, but the lesson we had on Saturday, was very powerful!! I think that helped!! Before we left, she asked for a blessing before we left, so we did. Church was very good for her as well :) I am so excited. We're excited to see what can happen this week.

We also found a lot of solid potential!! Two unbaptized keiki's who their parents want them baptized so that will help us!! We are going to start teaching them. September is going to be a very very big month for us. It's going to be awesome!!!
We also had a meeting with Elder Whiting again over the phone, the Area Authority! He is a very inspiring man. He put it pretty bluntly that, "Jesus is coming again, we have to prepare the world for that big event!" It gave me a bigger sense of urgency for the work to work harder!!!

But we are having an awesome week and time in Lihue.

I wrote the mission president, President Dalton, and told him that I really really want to stay in Lihue and finish my mission here. I hope I do, pray for me!! haha.Well, I love you guys and hope all is well!! We're going to have a huge week to set up for September!! I'm really excited to see what can happen!!

Love you guys, and let me know if I can help you!!!!!

"I'm Happy With How Things Are Going"

2011-08-15T17:36:00.006-06:00

Aloooooha!!

How are you all doing!! I'm doing pretty good!!

Well, let me start off with a cool story. We were sitting in sacrament meeting, in the very back, when about 5 minutes into it, I see someone walk in the back. I realized he was a freaking tall man. I was like, "fetch...he's tall!" Than he sat by us and I thought, "He looks like Shawn Bradley!"..so I take a closer look, and yup...Shawn Bradley, who is 7'6", who played for the Dallas Mavericks, BYU and is VERY tall, was sitting right next to me and Elder Coffin with his wife. We talked to him for a bit after sacrament, got his picture and his autograph, than he ran off. He is a very very tall man. Taller than Yao Ming. It was wild haha. (Edit by Elder Travis' mom: Travis is 6 foot tall, maybe 6'1", so you can see how much taller Shawn is. Oh, and thanks Chrissy for emailing me these pictures).But anyways, back to the mission stuff!! We had a good week. We saw a few things happen. We have a lot of potential we're finding, just need to get it moving. We found a few unbaptized children who we are trying to work with, a few former investigators who almost got baptized!!!
One of our members are working with the K*** Ohana. They're a family of 6 and we're close to being baptized a few years ago. We're going to meet with them this Thursday, and hopefully that'll be the lesson they need. We'll find out on Thursday if that's what they need.

We taught Melissa G***t again!! That was awesome. She had a complete change since we last met with her, and instead of just reading 3 Nephi 11, she read all of 3 Nephi. She said she just kept reading and didn't realize how far she got into! She's awesome. We will meet with her this week!!! I'm excited to see what can happen!!

Everyone is doing well!! Recent converts are doing well. I'm happy at how things are going!! The Luder's are awesome. One of my favorite families in the ward as well. They are very open about the gospel and willing to share it.

Anyways, good week, we should have a better one this week. We taught 30 lessons, and this week we're trying for our 50. We'll see how it goes!!!

I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!!!

The Refiner's Fire

2011-08-09T13:09:00.006-06:00

Aloha!!!

Well it's been a very interesting week!! We didn't teach 45 lessons, only 28, but we'll shoot for higher this next week :).The baptism of Hilton was supposed to take place on Saturday. Friday his wife stepped in and said, "If you get baptized, we'll get divorced." She feels it's breaking their Catholic vows of marriage and a violation of them, which obviously, it would do nothing to the vows. It's sad because he really wants to be baptized, but it's hard to go against his wife, and since the church is all about families...it was a difficult situation. He postponed his baptism and we'll try another week and pray for her heart to be softened...until than, he'll keep coming to church and so on.

I mentioned that Chelsea postponed her baptism last week, and now she doesn't want to meet with missionaries anymore. She's really fallen apart and lost site of the greatness of this gospel. We'll have to pray hardcore for her now as well.

The adversary tried awfully hard to get things broken down on us, but with disappointments gives time for revelation and stronger conviction. The shadow proves the sunshine, or it's darkest before the dawn-type of phrase. We know great things are in store for Kaua'i, and Lihu'e. We have a wonderful member in our ward who set up a Family Home Evening with a family of 6 who used to be taught and almost got baptized a few years ago. They are interested in coming back and learning, so we could see a major miracle happen there by the end of tonight. We're excited for that!!

Yesterday was fast Sunday. I took the opportunity to bear my testimony and share the wonderful experience we recently had with Kari!! It was such a wonderful experience to teach her and help her come into the gospel. She's a strong convert and will do much good!!

We have a wonderful family in our ward that Elder Coffin and I have drawn really close to. The Pedro's!! They are just wonderful people and so strong in the gospel. They have become like my family here in Lihu'e ward and it's just been so wonderful to get closer to them. Their son is about ready to get his mission call and will be such a wonderful missionary!! We are very excited for them!! They were less active for a few years, but are now stronger than ever and we love them very much!!

Speaking of companions, transfers came up!! Elder Coffin and I will be staying in Lihu'e ward on Kaua'i for the next six weeks together!! Which I'm very happy about!! We are getting an addition though, we'll be in a tripanionship with Elder Tiakia (See uh Key uh). He's 9 months out and is from New Zealand. We'll have an interesting time together!! I'm just happy to stay on Kaua'i and in Lihu'e. I love this ward too much to leave!

Anyway, I love you all and thanks for your support and love!! Today marks my 20 months when I was set apart. It's been fast, and continues to be faster. Before I know it, December will be here, and it will be a new stage in life. Until than, I'll work my hardest!!

Another New Record

2011-08-04T16:39:00.002-06:00

ALOOOHA!

Well, now we had just an amazing week!!! Let me tell you all about it!! Ok, so first, last week we taught 41 lessons...this week we taught 45. We really wanted 50 but it just didn't happen. We were busy from Monday night to Sunday night with very little time to breathe, but it was nice. We were definitely busy!! That's how it should be!!
Our baptisms went excellent!! Natalia's baptism was really really strong and powerful. It's been a year in the making and she just needed the right time! This was it, and she was baptized with her daughter on Sunday!!

Nolan's baptism was excellent as well!!! He was really really nervous before, but it went smoothly. He's a really tall fella and so he had to be bending when he got baptized or he would've hit his head. He's hilarious though, and I'm glad I was a part of his baptism!!!

Kari was baptized on Sunday after Natalia!! This was another powerful baptism. I'm so amazed that Kari met with us for about 18 days, and she just embraced the gospel. She amazes me, and will make an excellent impact on many of the members of the church and outside of it.

We were supposed to have a baptism for Chelsea as well. However she was really tried by the adversary and she felt like she wasn't ready. So she backed out a few hours before the service. It was sad, but you can't force or rush anybody. I know she'll be baptized soon anyways!!
So with all that, Kaua'i had 9 baptisms this month, and we were 1 shy of a free dinner from President. But he said he'll buy us ice cream which will work! haha.

We had ZLC yesterday on O'ahu!! That was a crazy time. Elder Coffin left his wallet at the Luder's home, and so he had to be interrogated by the security before he could get on the plane. Than we BARELY made our stand by flight. We thought we would have to fly separately (We missed our original flight) but Elder Coffin got the LAST seat on the plane, so we barely made it!! Than we missed our second flight cuz the meeting went late, so we didn't get home till about 6:30 at night. It was a fun day! I said goodbye to a lot of my friends in the mission. Some are going home next week with the transfer, some in September. It was sad, but I'll see them again. I'll see Elder Jaramillo again with him going to USU.

But regardless, it was a big fruitful weekend, and now we have time to find some more and see what we can do in August. I'm really excited, I love being a missionary and love serving. I'm treasuring all the time I have to serve.

Love ya'll and hope to hear from ya soon!!

The Best Week Of His Mission

2011-07-25T21:22:00.003-06:00

Aloooha!!

We had a good P-Day!! We went up Koke'e and played Ultimate Frisbee with Bishop Herr of Kalaheo ward and our zone. It was fun!!! Waimea canyon is like the grand canyon of Kaua'i!! It's amazing, google it if you can!!

Well, let me say this: we had the best week of my MISSION. We taught a whopping 41 LESSONS. The ward noticed that we were BUSY!! We were running everywhere, teaching teaching teaching....and teaching. I have NEVER expected myself to see 40 lessons in one week. But it happened. WOW, and to add to that is 5 baptisms this weekend!!!!!

Let me start with Kari: She's doing amazing. She keeps telling us that the night we met her was very special! I keep telling her, "there's a reason we were there, and I'm glad you see it!" She has exclaimed, "Why didn't I do this before? My whole life would be different!!" She is amazing. She will be baptized on Sunday!! I'm excited!!!

Next: Nolan!!! He's doing swell!! He's still set for Saturday and is excited as well. He seems prepared and ready to go. He's awesome!!!

Chelsea will be baptized on Saturday as well!! Lisa, her mother, was baptized last month, and her daughter wanted to follow!! She's doing awesome and is bringing friends into the gospel as well!!!

Now we'll move to Natalia!!! She has been taught for a year and called us up on Tuesday and wanted to meet!! So we went to meet with her and she said, "I want to be baptized in September instead of August!" That made my heart drop and I thought there was no way she'd get baptized if that happened. We had an amazingly powerful lesson and somehow...somehow...we were able to touch her and help her feel the need to get baptized soon!! She's ready, she just needs to do it. I don't know what we taught her honestly, it was completely by the spirit. My companion and I kept being pulled in the same direction, and kept opening to same scriptures (We had NO lesson plan) and she told us she wants to get baptized on July 31. We were excited!!! So we have 5 baptisms this weekend in Lihue ward!!!

On top of that, President Dalton told us if we can hit a new record for baptisms in our zone, (Which is 8) than he'll take us out to dinner and an activity of our choosing!! So we are set to hit 10 this month of July. He should be out here next week or the following :).

So yes, everyday was FILLED with miracles. I've never quite had a week like this one. Miracles after miracles after miracles!!!

On top of that, we had Elder Rasband come meet with us!!! It was awesome. I got to shake his hand. He spoke and we had a couple of the people we are teaching there. Elder Rasband is in the presidency of the Seventy. The senior president. So he holds a very high sacred calling in the church. He opened and said, "I want to talk about the thing that is discussed the most at the feet of the apostles and prophets...families!" He gave us four quotes from modern prophets about the importance of families and having the gospel in our life. It was a very powerful fireside, and I'm glad to have met him and shake his hand!!!

Also, when I was in Kalaheo last year, I met a family named Cathy and Charles A***!! They were baptized in November of 2010, and I saw them last night at the fireside. Charles looked at me and said, "Do you remember me?" He looked so different, and I had to think about it, then I realized it was the man I started teaching in February of 2010!!! We talked for a long time, and caught up!! He told me, "You were a stepping stone to our conversion." And now he's very active in the church. It really touched me to think that I was a tool in the Lord's hands to plant a seed and nourish it, and later on they were baptized. They plan on going through the temple sometime soon!!! On that note, I also met a girl named Kapua K*** that I bumped into in Kalaheo that was baptized in November and I had no idea either!!!

The last thing to mention: Hilton came to church!!! They moved his baptism to August 6 though, just so they can make sure I can make it there since we're going to have two baptism services in Lihue on Sunday. So he's pretty set in stone now!! I'm excited to see it happen!!

Well, I love you all!!! It was a blessed week, we'll see what can happen this week!!!
Love ya!

A Record 30 Lessons

2011-07-23T07:20:00.006-06:00

Aloha!!!

Oh my, we had a miracle week!! First off, we taught 30 lessons, 11 of those were to investigators. That is a record for me in the mission. I've taught 29 a few times, but never 30. We were BUSY BUSY!! Tonight alone we have 4 lessons set up!! It's so exciting to see how things are going in Lihue ward!!Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Seventy will be here in Kaua'i this weekend to do a fireside. President Dalton will be coming as well. I'm very excited to see what could happen with that. He is the President of the presidency of the Seventy, so he is a step below the Apostles!!

We had a good week with Kari! (Carrie was how I thought you spelled it!) We had 5 lessons with her this week!! That's right!! We taught her Tuesday night, than every day since than. The spirit was strong in a lot of the lessons we had!! Especially the restoration, and when we taught her about God Is Our Loving Heavenly Father. It was a very special experience as Elder Coffin and I helped her realize her true potential, and how much our Heavenly Father truly loves her. She could really feel the spirit and it was noticeable. We set a baptismal date with her for July 31, and it seems pretty solid to me so far. She is a miracle of my mission I'll never forget. The way we met her, the way we've been teaching her has all been perfect!!Hilton won't be baptized this week either. He is pushed to the 31 because he didn't come to church!! So the following week should be his baptism!!!

We had interviews with President Dalton this week. I really thought a lot about my mission before I went in. I was the first to go in, and we sat down for a good 30 minutes and just talked. Talked about my leadership calling as a Zone Leader, talked about me personally, talked about my mission. I realized how much I truly love my mission that morning. How much joy and how many good experiences I've had. I asked President what the possibilities of an extension would be. He told me it was such a rare exception. He then told me that it made him happy I asked, but to not worry about it and go home, go to school, and be with the family for Christmas. I knew it was a long shot, but now I know I tried asking and don't need to wonder, "What if I asked?". I truly do love my mission though, with all of my heart. I'm so SO thankful for the opportunity I have to be able to serve him everyday on a consistent basis and to stand as an example of Jesus Christ.

Nolan is doing quite well. He's still set for next week, as well as Chelsea! So the ward will have two baptisms this month, and we're stoked for it. Nolan was another miracle. He will be the first baptism I've seen come from contacting former investigators. I'm excited.

Anyways, I love you all!! Hope to hear from ya soon and thanks so much for what you do for me!!!
Love ya!

The Carrie/Kari Miracle

2011-07-11T19:15:00.005-06:00

Aloha!!!

We had an awesome week this week!! We see how much potential that Lihue ward has to grow!! Right now we still are set for the 4 baptisms coming up!! 2 on July 30, and 2 on August 6. Nolan is doing amazingly well!! We had a lesson at a members home and watched a conference talk from President Monson. I think it hit Nolan just how true this church is, and how much it can bless him and make him happy! It was an amazing lesson!!!
We are looking for more potential!! Joey, who was baptized not too long ago, has a niece that has been coming to church and is interested!! We're going to work with her!! We also should be teaching an 11 year old unbaptized kid here!! I'm looking forward to it!!

We have a referral from our ward mission leader that has solid potential!! We had an amazing experience with that. We were going to contact her, and we only had the street name, but no house number. We were driving up and down trying to find which home was hers! As we drove by one home I saw a lady, and something told me that was her! So I pulled over and thought about if that was her. I saw her start walking by our car towards the dark streets and was beginning to disappear. Something told me, "Get out, and go talk to her!!" So I jumped out of the car and asked her if she knew who Carrie was. (EDIT: He found out later that you spell her name Kari). She responded, "That's me." I told her that God had sent us to see her tonight and there's a reason why we are here right now. She started to cry and said she was going through a really tough time. She said, "It's time I do something about that." We set up a lesson with our Ward mission Leader for Tuesday night, and I'm looking forward to teaching her and working with her!! It was a true miracle!!On the other hand, Joey also helped prepare the sacrament on Sunday!! It was awesome to see him start fulfilling his priesthood responsibilities.

I love love being a missionary. I don't want to stop serving the Lord, and I'm happy that I still have 5 months left to serve. I see miracles all the time, and I'm so honored to serve God everyday. I know He lives and He's aware of His children. I won't stop or slow down, and I'm going to keep going!

I love you all, and hope to hear from you soon!!!!

Greenie Day Baptism

2011-07-07T19:37:00.003-06:00

Aloooha!!!

We had an awesome week. First off, my new companion is Elder Coffin from Idaho Falls, Idaho. He's a cool kid, reminds me of Elder Infanger a little bit.

We worked hard this week and we were able to see miracles happen. We have been trying hard to find someone who is ready to be baptized in July. We went to visit a family who has an unbaptized keiki (child) and the mom told us she wants us to teach her son and he really needs to be baptized. That was awesome and was a huge miracle. I just hope it all follows through now!!

Hilton, from my greenie days in Kalaheo, is still set to get baptized on the 23rd. He asked me to baptize him, and I was very honored and humbled to be asked. I still remember how we found him!! Missionaries before me tracted into him, and than Elder Major and I went to visit him and he was just ready to be taught!! Now he's set to get baptized!! I'm excited.

Nolan is doing extremely well!! He's set to get baptized the 30! We'll also be having the baptismal service for Chelsea W*** (Lisa's daughter) as well. So Lihue ward will have two baptisms this month. I'm excited, we are seeing miracles on Kaua'i!!
Aside from that, we have a good week coming up, and we should be able to see miracles!! I'm excited to see what can happen in Lihue ward and what we can do!!

I love you and thanks so much for all you do!!! Hope to hear from ya soon!!

Aloha!

Another Six Weeks In Kauai

2011-06-30T17:35:00.003-06:00

Aloooha!!!

Another week in Kaua'i has come and gone!!! Transfers came and we found out the transfer information. I am staying on Kaua'i and my companion, Elder Watson, is going to Laie to train! My companion is Elder Coffin from Idaho Falls, Idaho. He's 9 months out, so he's super young for a ZL, but it'll be fun! I get to train him as a ZL. So that'll be fun!!
We had an awesome week!!! On Tuesday, we had six lessons scheduled, and we ended up teaching ten!! We were so busy we had to split and go with members of the ward from five to nine. It was wild!! Fun though!!

Let's see. We lost all of our investigators, and than God blessed us to find six more. Four of them are set up to be baptized. Nolan is going to be baptized the 23 of July. He came to church last week, and now really wants to change his life and be baptized. I'm excited for him, he's awesome!!! That's our next baptism!!!

I failed to mention something. Joey C*** who was baptized last week, or two weeks ago, his legal middle name is "The Speedy" because when he was born, he came faster than the doctor did, so they called him the Speedy!! I think that's hilarious!!! I want to name my kid something awesome like that.

Anyways, back on track, we went to Kalaheo to watch the new version of the Joseph Smith movie. It was awesome!!! It's on radio.lds.org or you tube, and it has new material in it!! It's also meant more for people who don't know too much about Joseph Smith, so we took some of our investigators!! I saw the whole Kalaheo ward again!! It was awesome!!! The WML, Dale K***, had me stand up and re-introduced me to the ward. It was cool cuz all the members came up to talk to me again! There are so many good ward members there, I just loved that ward!! They are all incredible. I've been sooo blessed to serve in good wards such as Kalaheo and Kaneohe 3. Those have been my two favorite areas. The members in any area are so devoted to the gospel and so devoted to living it. It's such an awesome example to me of how to be when I am older in life.

Anyways, thanks for all you do!!! Love you all and hope to hear from you soon!!! A new transfer in Kaua'i!!!!

Last Week Of Transfers

2011-06-21T13:25:00.004-06:00

Aloooooooha!!!!

Another week has come and gone here in Kaua'i!!! We had the two baptisms of Katherine T*** and Joey C***. They were both very well prepared for the gospel and so ready to be baptized. You can tell there is a different countenance about them when you see them or talk to them. They are just so much happier and know they are taking the right steps to return to live with Heavenly Father again.

I don't know if any of you remember Hilton from when I served in Kalaheo, Kaua'i. But the sisters recently started teaching him again and set a baptism date of July 23 with him. I would be so excited if he got baptized. They said they'll suggest I can do the ordinance as well, which was be awesome to baptize someone from my Greenie days. I sure loved that man and hope he can make it to be baptized. The sisters will do an awesome job with that.

We also had a miracle happen on Sunday. A few weeks ago we called a guy who was taught a long time ago and asked him if he wanted to be taught again, he surprisingly said yes. He said he was going to come to church, but didn't that week. Well, this week, he popped in and stayed all three hours!! We have a lesson set up on Wednesday, and he could be our next baptism!! I'm excited to see how that turns out!!!

Well, this is the last week of the transfer. It's going to be interesting to see how it turns out. Elder Watson could go, I think I'm staying though. I'd be very surprised if I left the island. I'm trying to pull some strings and get Elder Garritson over here. He has been on O'ahu for a year, and should come to Kaua'i with me haha. That would be sickly amazing. We'll hope and see what happens!!

Elder Watson has been sick so I did a massive 8-hour personal study. During that 8 hours I read Leviticus, Numbers, part of Deuteronomy, Mosiah, and finished Jeremiah. I'm almost done with the Old Testament. I just have to read from Ezekial on, but my brain feels like it's going to explode!! Goodness.

Anyways, work is going well, and now it's time to find investigators!!! This week, we'll work hard and see what can happen!! Love you all!!!

Edit: I found out today that Elder Garritson has just been called to be an AP (Assistant to the President) so Elder Travis will probably run into him from time to time but they won't be companions again. I can hardly wait to get his email about it next Monday.

Signs In Kauai

2011-06-18T10:36:00.011-06:00

Here are some more silly signs of Kauai.Everyone seems to be warning us of this.This one makes me laugh right out loud!
Definitely a drink I wouldn't want to try!

Sister Missionaries In Kauai

2011-06-14T19:27:00.007-06:00

Aloha!!!!

Another week is down in the famous life of a missionary. We had a baptism of Lisa W*** this Saturday. Her daughter is very interested and will probably follow. The sisters still teach her because she likes them better haha. But it's a baptism in the same sense, so it's ok!!! President and Sister Dalton flew out to it because they know how hard the sisters worked to get her, and it's their first baptism in Kaua'i. It was cool to see that.We have a surprise baptism this Friday!! Katherine wanted to get baptized a week earlier!! So Friday she'll be baptized!! Than on Saturday Joey will be baptized. So we have two baptisms this week. I just love being a missionary. We are seeing so many miracles and so many awesome things happening. We are certainly busy and working hard. I'm glad Elder Watson is seeing a close to his mission like this, like Elder Barraza did. I want an end like this!! Hope I do, we'll see :)
on the other hand, we had ZLC this week. It was good, we counseled as leadership of the mission how to achieve vision 200. It'll take a very long process and hard work and diligence from future missionaries, but President wants to hit it before he leaves. It's possible, all things are with God. I'll keep my eyes on that bit of knowledge!!! Right now we are striving to hit vision 115. The most the mission has every baptized was 113, and we had 108 last May of 2010. So we'll see if we can beat that before I leave!!
Anyways, aside from that, we spent a lot of time this week contacting people who used to be taught by missionaries, and part member families. We are starting to run dry of investigators here in Kaua'i. We don't want to sink into a 0 investigator pit after this week. So hopefully we'll find more who are prepared!!! That was our problem in Kaneohe, we baptized 6 people in 6 weeks and ran out of people to teach. It's a wonderful problem to have, so we just have to fix it!!
Aside from that, it's been a fun week and we've been working hard.I love it here in Kaua'i and the ward is magnificent. Hawaii is a very blessed place to serve!!!

Love you all and can't wait to hear from you!!!

Kauai News

2011-06-10T12:15:00.006-06:00

Well, another week in Kaua'i!!!

First off, we had our baptism for Teagan ***. We should have one this Saturday for Lisa ***, then Joey and Katherine. We are excited to see those go through!! I didn't do too much to help with Teagan, but it's awesome to always see baptisms.
We had a meeting with Elder Whiting on Sunday. It was just a conference call but it was still cool!! He's less intimidating in person and not so ...rebuking haha. Maybe it's cuz Kaua'i is doing better than Kaneohe baptisms wise, I'm not sure.

On the other hand, we figured out that Elder Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy is coming to speak to the Kaua'i stake in July!! I'm stoked for that. I missed Elder Russel M. Nelson, but I can see Elder Rasband, whom I just love!!

We had a cool experience with Katherine. She told us that she was beginning to feel doubt about the church and didn't feel ready. She was ready to call it all off and stop meeting with us, but she decided to pray first (smart choice). She than prayed, and on her way to church, she said she felt an overwhelming feeling of peace, and felt the desire to be baptized. She now wants to be baptized really bad!! She will wait till the 25th cuz it's a special day for her, but it's a true testimony to me on how the Lord truly does work through our investigators. I believed it was Elder Pearson who told us that, "Thousands of legions of angels are preparing the hearts of investigators. More than you can possibly see or comprehend."

I just love being a missionary, and this Thursday I hit my 18 month mark. I don't even know what's happened to my time. But I know that I will work my hardest the last 6 months, and when I walk off to that airplane in the Honolulu Hawaii airport, I want to know within my heart that I did ALL I could to bring souls to Christ. I want that sense of accomplishment and peace, instead of doubt and guilty thoughts. I love this gospel, more than I can say. I love my Savior who I know will one day stand before my face, and plead my cause before the Father. I hope and pray I may stand worthy in front of Him and say, "I did ALL I could do". I encourage everyone to look to Jesus, and let Him heal you.
Love you all and hope to hear from you soon!!

***Elder Travis pointing to the red dirt of Kauai but......this picture shows the color better, end of edit.

Back To Kauai

2011-05-31T22:23:00.005-06:00

Alooooha!!

First: THERE ARE SO MANY CHICKENS IN KAUA'I!!!

We had such a terrific week in Kaua'i. Our mission has been pushing for 100 baptisms in May!! Well on Sunday, we found out we had 101 baptisms!! We accomplished a miracle that hasn't happened in nearly a year!! Crazy!!!We had two baptisms our self, Clara H*** and George B***. It was such a terrific event, they were truly prepared by the Lord and it was a miracle to see Clara get baptized. We were trying so hard to get her dad to do the baptism, but he was being resistant. We finally got him to meet the Bishop and was cleared to do the baptism. Afterwards, we were getting ready to confirm her when the Bishop found out that he couldn't let him do it cuz he didn't have a current temple recommend. So the confirmation was called off until next week, which at the time would have put our mission at 99 instead of 100. It was kinda sad haha. But President Dalton called and said, "Elders, I have the keys over converts in the mission, and she's getting confirmed tonight by the Bishop" and we hit 100 through that. It was wild!!!

We have Zone Conference tomorrow. We, since we are the Zone Leaders, have to do the trainings, so we prepared for that. I'm excited it's going to be very epic!!

Anywho, we are also getting a BRAND NEW 2011 COROLLA in our area. I'm happy we're driving a new car. The one we have right now is an 07 so it's not as amazing as the others.

I don't' know if any of you know Ken F***, but he's a guy who's been in every movie that Chuck Norris has been in, we are going to start teaching him this week!!!

All in all, it's been a good week. We've seen so many miracles. I love the ward and love the area. I still really miss Kaneohe though. I really didn't realize how much I would miss the members there. A lot of families became like family to me out there. Especially the families I worked closely with, the Pasikala's, Jackola's, and Tsukayama's. I can't wait for the day I get to see them all again at the airport!!

Anyways, thanks for your support, I love you all and hope to hear from you guys soon!! You are all awesome!!!

Flying Back To Oahu

2011-05-25T09:50:00.005-06:00

EDIT: These pictures are from Oahu since I don't have any pictures from Kauai yet - Elder Travis' mom.

ALOOOOHA
How are all of you doing?!!! I'm doing swell here on the beautiful island of Kaua'i!! I absolutely love it out here!!!
We had such an awesome week!! We have a few set up for baptism this week and the following weeks, so we'll see miracles out here!! The island is nearly the exact same when I left, it's kinda weird haha. But it's awesome. I love it out here. I saw my old ward!!! Bishop Herr, Sister Peterson, the Wilcox, Merv, haha it was crazy!!! I talked to Bishop about the people I worked with in Kalaheo!! The people who were baptized are all still active except L*** and K***, because her husband doesn't want her to go to church anymore. Sad story. But Romina is working for the temple, and same With Jeff S***!!!!
I have been missing Kaneohe. I sure did love it out there. The members were just beyond terrific. I had a good companion, and I loved it there. At first I wanted to leave when I returned to Kaneohe, but now I miss it like crazy. It is such a blessed place to serve there.Aside from that, we flew to O'ahu yesterday to see Kevin Pearson of the Seventy speak. He laid it out flat on us. He told us straight up what is expected of us. it was kinda freaky haha. But he gave a very good training and really taught me lot. We had a separate meeting as Zone Leaders and it was very...intimidating being in that room. He taught a lot on our own personal conversion and working as hard as we possibly can. It was a very good training. From there, we flew back to Kaua'i and taught a referral!! A RC (someone who progressed like Jocelyn) had her sister invited to a lesson, and she's now committed for baptism next month. That was exciting to see, and was very awesome to hear. I'm looking forward to seeing her progression. She seems very prepared and anxious to learn!!!
But all in all, that was it. It's been weird having to say goodbye to so many "family" members and now flying to Kaua'i to re-adjust to this island. It's gorgeous though and I already love it here. We'll see miracles out here and see what can happen!!

Thanks for all you do and hope to hear from you soon!!! Love you all!!!

Changing Islands

2011-05-16T18:30:00.013-06:00

Aloooooha!!

EDIT: Elder Travis pictured above doing service cleaning up the beach holding a crab.

As you all know...this was transfer week!!! I am ...outstanded (Elder Trav's mom - I laugh at this word that's not really a word!) as to what is happening with transfers. I can't believe it!!! Let me explain: I started my mission on Kaua'i, than served in Kaneohe, than in Honolulu, returned to Kaneohe, now I am returning to Kaua'i. I will be serving in the Lihue ward. So i will be out there in the beloved Garden Isle...again, in a more furter north part. It's the eastern part of the island by my old area. So it will be good to be there again!! I love that island. My new companions name is Elder Watson. He goes home in three months with Elder Garrard and I'm pretty sure he's from Utah, if not Washington. I actually replaced Elder Watson in Kailua with Elder Standiford. So he'll know him and that area!!!We had Jocelyn's baptism this week. It was so awesome. President Dalton came and spoke at it. It was so cool to see him come to that. He gave such an excellent talk on missionary work and Jocelyn. It was a very satisfying experience. She told us she wants to get sealed in the Salt Lake temple in a year, and so of course, I promised her I would be there when that day comes in 2012.Remember Taylor J***? I got a wonderful birthday present with that family. We had dinner with President Kaluhiokalani, the stake president, and we invited them to come along since they live across the street. They did!! We watched two wonderful "Mormon Messages" on the Atonement (Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light, and Lifting Burdens). It was so awesome. The spirit was so strong!! We than invited Taylor to be baptized and she accepted. She will probably get baptized next week!! I'm excited for her, sad I won't be there, but excited for her as well.Also, we went over to a wonderful family, the K***'s. She is a member, and the people she lives with (T***) are not members. They are wonderful and very catholic. But are so very friendly and willing to let us come and talk with them. Such...good, nice, Christ-like people. We had dinner, and showed the same "Mormon Messages." The spirit was amazingly strong. We talked about what Christ can do for us, and His atonement. Afterwards, the husband gave the closing prayer, and the family was all in tears. It was amazing because I know without a doubt that he knows, the Book of Mormon is true. He went to BYU-Hawaii and has read the BOM many times. I think he's just scared of change and doesn't know what to expect. But, I saw his spirit change when we left the home. He had that look in his eye that maybe, just maybe, this was the right thing to do. It was a very VERY large first step, but very important. I will keep a close eye on their progress!!Next week as well, on the 23rd, Elder Kevin Pearson of the Seventy is doing a mission tour. Since I'm now on Kaua'i, on Monday, they will fly us to Kaneohe stake center (weird?) and we'll hear the words from him that day!! So as far as email goes, I'll email next Tuesday. Just a heads up (same as the first Monday in June). But, I am excited to hear what he has to say!
Also, we had a meeting with Elder Whiting, the Area Seventy (pictured above on the right). He is a terrific man. He gave such a good accounting to the stake, and really spoke to our hearts. He talked a lot about following the spirit in all that we do. He is awesome.
I will miss Elder Garrard. He has been such a good companion for me and he's been terrific. He promised me he'll come to my homecoming and visit me. He's a very good friend and was an excellent companion.

Well, that was our week. Busy week, but an awesome one!! I'll be emailing from Kaua'i next week, and probably for a good couple of months!!

I love you all and can't wait to hear from ya!!!

Aloha!

Seventeen Month Mark

2011-05-09T18:09:00.007-06:00

Alooooha!!!

Well, I am 21. I do not feel 21, and do not feel like today is my 17 month mark from when I went into the MTC. Time is faster and faster.
(Edit: Picture above is of Elder Travis and Elder Barraza. Elder Barazza had gone home a month or two ago and was back visiting already!) We had a crazy morning. We have a missionary in our zone who is struggling right now. We were doing a district companionship study, when he all of a sudden blew up in his companions face about everything that he's struggling with and how he hates his companion. Me, my companion, and the District Leader, spent the next 45 minutes of counseling him and trying to help him realize that because he hasn't had a baptism, doesn't mean he's a failure of a missionary. It was a crazy morning...but it worked out. Sometimes as leaders, we have to do that counseling, and therapy-like situations for missionaries, and it's not fun. It's my least favorite part of the mission.

On the other hand, we had a couple of lessons with Jocelyn. She is still solid!! Her baptism is this Saturday and she's getting married right after. It's going to be a busy day haha. But we are super excited. for her!! President Dalton will be coming down to that!!!

We have transfers next week. We will find out this Sunday the results of the transfer. It's really up in the air, I could go, I could stay, I don't know haha. I've been in Kaneohe 3rd ward for 4 months, and Kaneohe zone for 9 months. I would love to go off-island, but we'll see how that goes. I'd love to go to Maui, but I could be destined for O'ahu my whole mission. We'll see :) Sunday will be very interesting.

Other than that, all of our investigator lessons canceled, so it was kind of tough to get those taught, but we should get them back. We have a lesson with the J***'s tonight, and hopefully it won't cancel cuz we want to invite Taylor to be baptized. Jamie and Tiare canceled for the next few weeks cuz of school (they are teachers) and finals going on. But they said their summer is definitely open. Which is understandable.

Well, Mothers Day was yesterday, happy Mothers Day!! (Edit: Picture above taken on Mother's Day and emailed to Elder Travis' family. He and Elder Garrard made the Scotcheroo balls!) It was good to talk to the family again, and hear how everyone is doing. It's weird that that was my last phone call home for the mission. The next time I talk to my family will be at the airport in Salt Lake City in December. It's still 7 months away, but it was awfully fast so far.

I love all of you and thanks for your support!! Let me know if I can do anything for you!!!!

"Exact Obedience Brings Miracles"

2011-05-08T21:58:00.008-06:00

ALOOOOHA!!!

How are you guys doing?? I'm very good!!!I heard the news of Osama bin Laden. I can't believe it's been 10 years since the 9/11 catastrophe and now we finally caught the man. I must say, it is wonderful news especially for our beloved President Bush who went after him in the first place. Now off the politics.We had a terrific week. Well, decent week. We taught Joselyn quite a bit. She is doing wonderful!! She is getting baptized on next Saturday and so I'm very excited to see that happen!! President is going to come to that since it is downright a pure miracle that she is getting baptized. Even right after he told us, "exact obedience brings miracles." That's just outstanding. Miracle!!

Jamie and Tiare canceled because of their son being sick. That happens...we are teaching them on Friday!! We were going to teach the Jackola's but they were too tired and canceled. We planned to invite Taylor to be baptized in that lesson. It amazes me how the devil somehow stops all of our lessons when we have that planned. Oh the cunning plan of the evil one!!!
Anyways, We did a beach clean up on Waimanalo beach park. it was beautiful and wonderful to be on the beach again!! I played in the sand (not the water) and got lots of pictures. Brother Beatty, the first counselor in our bishopric, went crabbing and got a huge crab for us!! He had us hold it, it was kinda creepy haha. I snapped his shell a bit, I felt bad, but I was scared of getting pinched. I definitely look forward to coming back to the beach and ocean when it's time!!

Mother's day is coming up!! I plan on calling home at 1 Hawaii time, if Utah is 4 hours difference, than it will be 5 Utah time. It's so freaking weird to think that this will be my last time calling home on my mission. The next time I talk to you guys will be at the airport in December. Unless of course a tsunami happens. But, in other words, it will be here in May!!

Also congrats to Breezie and giving birth to my new niece fetus. I hope she is healthy since Breezie is still in labor.

Well, love you all, can't wait to talk to you on Sunday!!! Much love and aloha!!
Trav

"The Power of One" Continues To Grow

2011-04-25T17:24:00.009-06:00

Alooooha!!

How are you all doing?! I am excellent!!!!

We had an excellent week. Joselyn, the lady who walked into the church looking for a Book of Mormon, came to church yesterday!! I taught her with Elder Rodriguez. She is super solid and is set to be baptized on the 14th. She is awesome!! Her fiancee so happens to be a member as well, so it makes our job A LOT easier. But she is looking forward to her baptism, and we are excited to see what can happen from that!!

We didn't have a chance to teach Jamie and Tiare, but we will this week. They got caught up in Easter services for the New Hope church, which is ok. We wanted them to come to the true church, but that's alright. Next week!! They are super nice though!!

It's not looking like Kiana's baptism will happen this week. Probably next if it does. Her father is a sticky situation, and we just have to take it slow and one day at a time ya know? We'll find out though, it'd be cool it it happened this week!! I'll let ya know next week.

We had stake correlation this week. This is our chance as Zone Leaders, to stand in front of the ward mission leaders, and the bishops, and stake president, and tell them what we need help with. It's very intimidating, and I know they are such busy men with so much on their plate. I feel bad putting more on it, but if the prophets #1 priority is missionary work, than it should be our's as well. It was crazy preparing for it. We are really trying to emphasize the Power of One. I found out recently that Elder Clayton is now enforcing this program and it's running in Laie. President Dalton and Elder Whiting, the area Seventy, is pushing it as well. It's kinda weird to think that Elder Infanger and I were the ones to come up with it, but we truly felt we received revelation. It was crazy, but it sure was good to hear that it's being used all in Hawaii.

I've been using the Mormon Messages DVD Mom sent me for dinner messages. I've seen the Elder Holland one on Easter quite a bit. It's so good and super powerful!! If you have a chance, watch it. It's so good.

But all in all, we have a big week ahead of us, and hopefully we will see more happen this week. We keep working hard, and hopefully we can continue to find those who are ready to receive the gospel!!

Thanks for all your support and HAPPY EASTER!!!

Good News! They're Free!

2011-04-22T18:29:00.005-06:00

We had an awesome week. Let me tell you of the miracle we saw!!We were having our interviews from our mission president when a lady walked in asking where she could buy a Book of Mormon. Our MP wife, Sister Dalton, told her she was in luck and they were free!! She offered to have the missionaries teach her if she had time and she was completely willing to!! She asked the Kahalu'u missionaries to, Elder Duck and Elder Rodriguez. After they taught her we found out she wanted to be baptized on May 14, and not only that, but she lives in our area!! So we will start teaching her on Thursday and help her progress towards baptism!! I love miracles like that!

We were also tracting and bumped into a young lady named Nicole!! She was interested in having us come back and said her RM friend talks to her all the time about the church!! That's on Thursday as well!!

Our other investigators, Jamie and Tiade are progressing really well!! They asked a lot of good questions and said they will do whatever the Lord asks of them, even if they have to be baptized Mormon. I hope they truly mean that, cuz than they will be baptized soon when they do receive that answer!!

We are seeing great miracles here in Kaneohe and continue to see more!! We have a very busy week this week and are going to be going and going!! As I come to the last 8 months of the mission I've developed the tendency to always have to work, work, work. I feel like I constantly have to do stuff and have to stay busy. I hope to carry that for the rest of my mission!!

Well, I love you guys and sorry it's short but I'm short on time!! Hope to hear from all of you soon!! Aloha!!
Trav!!

2011-04-05T12:18:00.004-06:00

Alooooha!!(Note from Elder Travis' mom: This picture was taken on Conference morning and was sent to me in an email by Travis' landlord. Thank you Dawn! This meant so much to me to receive a picture of him on the same day it was taken)!

Well, transfers are in!! I am being transferred to the beloved island of MAUI!! It's about time I go off island!! Ok...I lied. I'm staying in Kaneohe for another six weeks. This time, Elder Infanger is transferring. I will be staying and training a new Zone Leader, Elder Gerrard whom I have never met, so that will be very interesting!! Also, if you are interested, Elder Garritson was called as a zone leader in Makakilo, which is west side O'ahu (it gets SUPER hot there). But I am excited to see how this transfer will play out and how it goes!!

As far as the work, we had an awesome week!! First off, we found three new people to teach!! One girl, her name is Leslie, she is a friend of Ric's who was baptized in January, came to cottage meeting (a meeting where recent converts speak at President Dalton's home) and she was interested. So, we started teaching her. She is a super nice girl and I think the gospel has found her at exactly the right time in her life!! The lady we found last week, Lindsay, dropped us. She called us and told us she'll let us know if she has questions, but otherwise she was too busy for a while to meet. I think she found anti-material, but ya never know. She still was nice and open about it!!

We went to the temple, and that was a fun experience!! The Laie temple is beautiful!! I loved it!! I miss going so much, I wish we could go more often!!! They did a very good job at renovating the temple!! The Celestial room was small, but very beautiful!! Laie is a beautiful place as well. Almost makes me want to go to BYU-Hawaii for a semester. But I'm an Aggie :)

Conference was excellent as well!! I really enjoyed Elder Holland and Elder Andersen's talk!! Elder Samuelson of the Seventy gave a great talk as well!! That was really good to hear his words on the Atonement. Priesthood session was amazing!! I pulled the theme of temples, marriage, and obtaining a testimony! It was hilarious to hear President Monson say "Get married now!" I'll worry about that in 8 months. Otherwise, I'm good for now!!

But I also saw that the second Preach my Gospel DVD's were released. I would encourage all of you to pick up a copy and watch the first disc. This is what missionary work is like now, and it's crazy!! We really have to be in tune with the spirit, it's incredible!!

I also found out I had Staph infection!! There was a weird bump irritating me, and I finally went to see the doctor and soon found out it was Staph. Thank goodness it wasn't the "hard to cure" kind, so some cream is curing it, but that was weird to hear.

Anyways, great week, and awesome things happening!! Thanks for all your support and hope all is well!!

Aloha Nui Loa!!

The Power Of One

2011-03-28T18:53:00.006-06:00

Well we had an interesting week!! We finally found a new investigator. Her name is Lindsey!! She went to the temple and was interested so she wanted to learn more!! We stopped by and she told us that we could come right in and teach her! We shared with her the part of the restoration and set up a return appointment to teach the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. She is an extremely kind and extremely open-minded, so this will be an interesting process of teaching her, I think it's going to go very well!!!

Remember how last week I told you we came up with the power of one? President Dalton liked it so much he sent it to every zone in the mission and told them to apply it into their wards and areas. We have had a few calls from random missionaries telling us how cool it is. Ha, that was awesome to hear, cuz we spent so much time on it!! Our own Bishop in Ward Council talked about applying it into his ward. The basic gist, is having every member write down three names of people they want to work on this year. We collect those sheets and follow up throughout the year.

In sacrament meeting, since it was fast Sunday, bishop got up and bore his testimony on the power of member missionary work. It was awesome!! I followed shortly and talked about how their friends will only listen to them. I shared my experience of when I was back home during December and sharing the gospel with other friends. We got five referrals yesterday and the ward is pumped to do missionary work now. We are super stoked to see the outcome of this, cuz if every member in Kaneohe 3 (every active) invites one person, we'd baptize over 100 people in that ward alone. Solid!!We are going to the Laie temple on Thursday morning!! We are so stoked to go!! I miss the temple Soooo much. I miss going once a week and just being in the house of the Lord. I've been looking forward to this for the past 16 months!!!

I'm also stoked about General Conference this week!! I love sitting and listening to the words of our Prophet and Apostles and Seventies. They truly are inspired and have the counsel that we need to hear in this very day and time. I'm excited for Elder Holland's talk and what he will speak on!! I encourage all of you to go into conference with a question and I promise you will find it in one of those talks!!We also have transfer calls coming up Sunday!! This transfer is nearly over, and it's crazy. I only have six more transfers left and they get quicker every time. I have a feeling I'm either leaving or Elder Infanger is. We'll find out in a week!!! But it's been a fun, exhausting week, and time for more!!

Window Sticker

2011-03-26T09:47:00.003-06:00

Elder Travis took a picture of this sticker on the window. Click on the picture twice so it enlarges so you can read it. It made me laugh!

Member Missionaries

2011-03-21T19:42:00.008-06:00

The above picture is Elder Travis with Brother and Sister Freeman who work in the mission office. Sister Freeman was a wonderful help and emotional support to me when Travis was so sick and especially during his treatment for the blue centipede bite. She told me that she didn't want me to hear about it in an email or letter and have to wait a week to hear how he was doing! God bless her sweet soul for that!
Elder Travis' Mom

Alooha!!

Well, we had quite the interesting week. It was....interesting haha. We had a stake meeting we had to be to on Thursday, so we spent a lot of time getting those reports ready and a training ready!! Which brings about an interesting thought. President Dalton has decided to focus on the members this year. He has one important phrase...the power of one. One Referral. In Kaneohe, we talk to 26,000 people a year and introduce them to the gospel. Last year we baptized 4 people this way. Through the members, Kaneohe had 67 baptisms last year. Quite the difference. If every ACTIVE member in the state of Hawaii referred just ONE friend to the missionaries this year, Hawaii would baptize FIVE new stakes. Think of that for a second, that would require a new temple (on Maui this time), that would require probably a new mission in Hawaii, that would require more missionaries, that would require more leadership. All because of one referral from each individual member. Pretty amazing right? So me and my companion worked on a program to implement this into the zone in Kaneohe and we discussed it in Bishop's Council and hope to get it going before the month is over. It gives us missionaries names from members on who we can follow up with our members on and try and teach at least one of three names of people they want to work with this year. It's going to be sweet if they actually do it!! I must say, that was a day we received revelation, truly!

It was a long stressful week, but looks like a better week is coming!! We have good potential for this week and we'll see what we can do!!!

Elder Travis' Tsunami Details

2011-03-14T16:11:00.007-06:00

Note from Elder Travis' mom: The picture above is not of the 2011 tsunami that hit Hawaii after an earthquake in Japan but another tsunami. I couldn't find a current picture.

Aloooha!!!
Well, my second tsunami.... As you know, not too much happened in Hawaii compared to Japan, but we had a little stir! I was in a coordination meeting when our Elders Quorum president told
us Japan was hit hard with an earthquake. Two seconds later he said Hawaii was on a watch for a tsunami. Thirty minutes later, the AP's called us telling us to evacuate and the tsunami was going to hit at 3 am. We went to the church as a zone and played basketball and had no communication with the outside world. We didn't hear anything till later in the day about Japan or what happened off the coast of Kona on Big Island.

We were up till about 4 am and slept till noon, cuz all of us were worried about the tsunami in a way. We are in Kaneohe, and the bay that is here is a huge protection to tsunami's, but we were worried about the people in Japan, as well as our other missionaries. We were happy to hear not much happened here, except a house being taken into the ocean. No casualties in Hawaii, which is a true blessing again. It was a long night, but we lasted through it, and we are alive now. Hopefully no more happens from here on out!!

I bought a newspaper from the Honolulu's newspaper place, to scrapbook this memory. I sent it home today in a package, but the pictures of Japan are devastating. I'm glad to be a member of the church, and know we are some of the first on the scene!! We are truly a blessed people!!

Other than that, the work was kinda slow this week! Jagyr was ordained by his father as a deacon, and I ordained Ric to Priest yesterday. Both were very special experiences, and awesome to see how the Lord truly works!!!

Elder Travis' mom here: This was another email I received when I asked about the two Japanese Elders that he knew who were serving in Hawaii.
The Japanese Elders, Elder Katanuma, his family is in Utah, his grandma was in range of the tsunami though, so he called his family to see if they knew anything and they didn't and couldn't get a hold of his grandma. so that's....disheartening. The other Elder I know of, Elder Yamazaki, I'm not too sure. His family is all outside of Tokyo, and I'm not sure how hard Tokyo was hit. so I'm not sure. But ya we were very concerned for him when we heard.

His Second Tsunami Of The Mission

2011-03-11T10:08:00.003-07:00

I copied the following news story from CNN's web site and pasted it here.

Honolulu (CNN) -- As the first light of dawn broke Friday in Hawaii, officials reported no significant damage from a series of tsunami waves that struck the islands after Japan's deadly earthquake.

The tsunami brought waves of about 6 feet to a harbor in Maui, authorities said, but other areas reported lower levels, including Honolulu at 2.2 feet and Hilo at 4.3.

The U.S. mainland, meanwhile, was bracing for waves to come onshore, from Washington to California.

No significant damage had been reported in Hawaii almost three hours after the first waves arrived, but officials said they would know more after sunrise and then make a decision on whether evacuees could return to their homes.

Tsunami waves strike Japan

Buildings, windows damaged in Japan

Witness deals with quake terror

Quake causes ceiling to collapse

Sensors on the southern side of the island of Hawaii, sometimes called the "Big Island," were wet, indicating ocean water had come at least 100 feet ashore, officials said.

CNN affiliate Hawaii News Now broadcast images of fish that washed up by the tsunami on Maui.

Kerry Gershaneck of the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard told Hawaii News Now that the operation planned to open once officials gave the "all clear."

Businessman Charlie Leonard, who lives on the 19th floor of a condo on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, said Hawaiians took this tsunami more seriously than they did last year following an earthquake in Chile.

"You could hear a pin drop in Waikiki," Leonard said.

"It came home to people," he said, referring to the devastation in Japan. "I think everybody's grateful" that damage does not appear to be major.

Honolulu is about 6,859 miles (11,038 kilometers) from the location of the February 2010 Chile earthquake. Sendai, Japan -- located near the epicenter of Friday's quake -- is 3,782 miles (6,086 kilometers) away.

Leonard and a business partner operate a waste and recycling business and had to move about 50 trucks late Thursday.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center predicted the waves, which came in about every 15 minutes, "are not going to be a major damaging event" for Hawaii, but will cause scattered damage, particularly to harbors and coastal facilities.

It appeared the state's residents had heeded calls to move away from the coast. Honolulu officials told residents to "be aware that inundation effects could continue for several hours."

"We called this one right," center geophysicist Gerard Fryer said. "This evacuation was necessary."

Waves of between 6 and 7 feet were reported at Kahului harbor in Maui, Fryer said, adding that it was difficult to tell what would happen on all the islands. "We have significant energy bouncing around the Hawaiian Islands."

Fryer said the waves are rolling in about 15 minutes apart. Forecasters said some areas may see waves of up to 9 feet.

A tsunami warning was still in effect after 8 a.m. (11 a.m. ET).

Communities along much of the U.S. West Coast were under tsunami warnings, too.

The National Weather Service said the waves would hit Oregon and California.

In California, tsunami wave heights could reach 7 feet at Port San Luis Harbor and 4 feet in Morro Bay. Santa Monica could see 2.8 feet.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee says he feels "confident we will not be hurt by this."

He expected the city to get waves 1 to 2 feet higher than normal. Extra precautions have been taken in case the situation worsens, but he said he has not had reason to call for evacuations.

"I ask the public to remain calm," Lee said.

He said he will be calling Japan's consul-general in San Francisco to offer any assistance to that country.

The first impact in Hawaii was felt shortly after 3:07 a.m. (8:07 a.m. ET), according to Hawaii State Civil Defense, which issued a tsunami warning.

Tidal gauge readings on the southern side of the Hawaiian island of Kauai were "somewhat encouraging," CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano said.

Hawaii Public Radio news director Bill Dorman told CNN some roads were closed as a precaution.

Hawaiian emergency officials reminded residents that tsunami evacuation maps can be found in front of their telephone directories.

Chief Petty Officer Kurt Fredrickson in Honolulu told CNN the U.S. Coast Guard has been working with local port authorities and harbor masters to get the word to all mariners to get out to sea.

The Coast Guard prepared for the worst-case scenario, Frederickson said. "We are moving our assets out to sea. We are moving our aircraft to more suitable locations."

The threat of a tsunami prompted the U.S. National Weather Service to issue a warning for at least 50 countries or territories around the Pacific after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck Japan on Friday. The warning for Guam was later lifted.

Warnings also were in effect for coastal areas of California and Oregon from Point Concepcion, California, to the Oregon-Washington border, according to the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. An advisory was in effect for Washington.

A warning also was in effect for Alaska, from Amchitka Pass to Attu, and in Canada's British Columbia.

President Barack Obama said he instructed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be prepared to help Hawaii and other U.S. regions "that could be affected" by the disaster.

CNN iReporter Ken Papagno, who lives on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, recorded sirens that sounded throughout the island.

Hawaii had a tsunami scare in February 2010 after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit Chile. A warning cancellation occurred nearly two hours after the first waves came ashore. Coast Guard crews said they had found no significant damage to ports or waterways as a result of the tsunami, ending a significant evacuation to higher ground.

A Pretty Decent Week

2011-03-10T18:59:00.004-07:00

Note from Elder Travis' mom: The above picture was found on a Facebook page by Trav's sister Brianna. It's a typical goofy Trav face so I decided to post it here!

We had a pretty decent week in Kaneohe!! We went to start knocking doors on Wednesday, and the very first door we knocked, a bigger Hawaiian guy opened the door. He welcomed us right in to teach him. It's nice, cuz that never happens. We usually get "another day" or "get out of here". We taught him about Prophets and the need of prophets, and than re-scheduled an appointment to teach about Joseph Smith. He's a super friendly guy, and I think he has great potential. He lives right by the church too, so he's not too far away!! haha.

Our branch mission leader in the YSA branch, had a friend here from California. We taught her at a dinner and she seemed interested so we went back! We taught her twice and she just flew back to Hollywood. But it was cool to teach her, cuz she had a lot of questions about religion, about the Plan of Salvation, and she said that, "She has a lot of questions she thinks we can't answer." We answered every single one of them and hopefully cleared her understanding. She was nice and sincere and we planted a seed. Hopefully she'll nourish it with other missionaries. We invited her to keep meeting with missionaries in California!

We saw the J***'s again. Jagyr was sustained as a Deacon and will be ordained soon. His father *** will be ordaining him. That is something special to see, we are excited and he is too. Jagyr unfortunately had surgery to correct something in his leg. He has some disease, and his one leg is off by a few CM and it has been throwing his hips and back out. Poor kid...but we got him a get well raccoon (I found one in Walgreen's!!) and talked to Taylor about baptism!! We are having her pray about being baptized on the 26 of March. So we'll see what happens there :)

Anyways, it was a great week, with more to come. We have Zone Conference this week, and I am excited to see that happen!!!

Much love and Aloha and thanks for your support!!!

Signs In Kaneohe

2011-03-01T20:46:00.010-07:00

These Burger King signs always make me laugh....

and wish....
that we saw signs like these in Utah!

I guess since missionaries get referrals all the time...that he thought these were funny. Note: We don't pay people money for referrals though so this is why I think he must have thought it was funny.

His brother-in-law just signed up for active duty so I know this bumper sticker has meaning for him. God bless our servicemen and women in whatever branch they serve.

Working Hard

2011-02-28T14:31:00.005-07:00

We had a decent week!! Got my new companion, Elder Branden Infanger from Salmon Idaho. He goes home in May, the same time as my trainer. So that'll be very interesting to see what happens there!! If I stay with him another transfer, I'll be in Kaneohe for quite a while. We'll find out in five weeks!!
We had the baptism of Taylor K***. She has been taught for four years, and wasn't able to be baptized because her parents didn't want to sign the form. She turned 18 on Friday, and was baptized Saturday. It was a very special event and something really cool to see. Elder Wise and Barraza tracted into her and started teaching her for the few weeks before I came in, and then we led her to her baptism this past Saturday.

We met with my favorite family in the ward, the Jackola's. We are still working on Taylor to get her with a baptismal date. We are mainly focusing on becoming good friends and helping her see that we truly do care about her. The family is awesome, they are considered part of my family. I love Brother Jackola and Sister Jackola, and Jagyr and Taylor like my own family. They are tremendous and it's so fun to be around them and than share more about the gospel with them. They are making a huge impact in my life in my short time in Kaneohe.

We are struggling in finding solid investigators but we are working hard. We are talking to everyone and knocking on a lot of doors. Despite how sometimes we may be shut away, yelled at, cursed at, chased off the property sometimes, we know the great blessings that come from living the gospel and want to give it to everyone, not just the nice ones.

We did start teaching a lady named Julia. She lives with Dawn and Carmen who were just baptized. She is praying about being baptized at the end of March, so that'll be really cool to see if that happens!!

Well, I miss Elder Barraza, but the work moves forth. My new companion is awesome, and we are working hard!!

Thanks for all you do and I keep all of you in my prayers!!

Another Amazing Week

2011-02-23T07:58:00.004-07:00

Aloooha!!!

We had another awesome week!!! We had another baptism on Sunday!!! Jagyr ***. It was so awesome, his family was so excited to see him get baptized. Our baptism on Saturday didn't happen because she got super sick all week, so we'll re-set the date with her this week :). It was fun though!!

We were soo blessed this week to hear the words of Elder L. Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy. He is an impressive speaker, and it was such a blessing to hear from him!! He spoke to all of us missionaries and was pretty bold. He told us that some of us in the room would be excommunicated, and we had to make sure it wasn't going to be yourself. That was crazy to hear, but the way of the world is crazy. I already know some RM's from the mission who
fell off the path. We got the tremendous blessing of having him speak at our Sacrament Meeting. It was a loaded meeting as we had Elder Clayton and his wife, President Dalton, Elder Scott Whiting of the area Seventy, and President Kaluhiokalani, the Stake President. They all spoke, and it was a solid 90 minutes of spiritual enlightenment. Afterwards, the ward was able to shake hands with him, and Taylor (Jagyr's sister) told him that she wasn't baptized yet. He spoke to her for a while, and we hope to set a date with her tonight!! We are excited because we feel
she is ready. After that, the ward sang Aloha Oe to Elder Clayton, and Elder Barraza. It was a very moving moment to see my companion, who was such a hard working missionary, and taught me so much, bid farewell to the ward that we have labored so hard in. We had five baptisms in six weeks, and saw a lot of miracles.

My new companion is Elder Infanger from Idaho, and he goes home in May with my trainer, Elder Major. So I might help him finish his mission as well!! We'll find out!!

I love all of you and thanks for your support!!!

An Excellent Week!

2011-02-14T21:29:00.001-07:00

We had an excellent week. "Slower" in teaching, we didn't teach 30, but we did hit 20 haha. We got caught up in the two baptisms we had.

On Saturday was Tino M***'s baptism. He's been investigating the church for four years, and was finally baptized. It was awesome, the ward didn't expect him to be baptized, but he was!!! We were so stoked!!

Also, on Sunday, we had a baptism for Lamaya. That was really exciting and very spiritual. Her mother is a less active, but was definitely touched by the spirit at the baptism. We have potentially two this week with Kianna Kamahoahoa, and than Jagyr. Kianna is just depending on her dad's approval, and Jagyr is all set for Sunday!!It's an awesome way to end the mission for my companion!! We are definitely seeing miracles. Now we are running into the problem of "What next?" Since all of our investigators are being baptized. I'm sure we'll find some more, but we don't have them right now haha. It's a good problem though.

Other than that, we tried to do the hike Stairway to Heaven (Google it!!!) but we got turned around by the guard. We have a plan to scare him off in a gorilla suit next week...we'll see what happens haha.

Kaneohe

2011-02-12T17:43:00.006-07:00

Aloha!!
Sounds like the internet is freaking out or something, cuz emails are weird this week!! I'm sure everyone noticed they got shorter emails too. ZLC was moved at last minute and threw off our whole PDay. I should be on with more time next week!

We had a terrific week again!! We taught 29 lessons, and had a baptism with Dawn ***. It was so awesome!! She was looking forward to it so much and was so excited on Saturday. We have a baptism again on Saturday with Tino ***. He is a Samoan and has been taught for a few years. We are praying he will get to Saturday and be baptized. He seems solid to us though, so we are excited. Than we have two next week, and two the following week, and than one to finish off February.
We are super super busy here in Kaneohe. The harvest truly is white and ready to harvest. We hope to continue to see this type of success, and I'm happy that Elder Barraza is seeing this to finish off his mission!
We had a meeting with Elder Whiting of the area Seventy on Sunday. He is a spiritual giant!! He said something that made me think. He said that our priorities should be the same as the prophets, because that's the Lord's priorities as well. I thought that was interesting. He was a super amazing man to meet with. We met with him and the stake presidency.

We saw a lot of great things this last and know we will continue to see those things happen this week as well!! We are so excited to see even more happen!! We are truly working hard and we don't stop our day until we know it's over!!

Love all of you and thanks for your support!!!

"It's So Awesome To Be A Missionary"

2011-02-01T12:30:00.007-07:00

Aloha!!!

We had such an amazing week!! We taught 29 lessons, and had a baptism on Sunday. We have a baptism every weekend of February. We have a couple extras too...overall we should have about six baptisms this month for Kaneohe 3rd ward. We are very excited to see this all happen. I'm so happy that Elder Barraza is ending his mission this
way!!Ric's baptism was so amazing. It was so spiritual and so awesome!! He brought his friend's family who had a son who passed away, and at the end they were completely in tears. This was such an awesome experience to be a part of, and now we are excited to see him progress towards the temple and do the work for his friend!!

We tracted into this guy who told us we could come back the next day and teach him!! So we went back the following day and he was kind of surprised to see us. We started the "get to know you" part of the lesson, and he told us he looked online about our church, and read how we "believe" in physical intimacy of God and Mary, and how we can become God's. He couldn't process through his head, no matter how straight forward we told him, that we don't believe in that relationship between God and Mary, and all we knew about the conception of Jesus, was what was in the Bible. We tried to teach him part of the restoration, but he was convinced we believed that. We kinda laughed and told him that if he wants to learn more about the church to go to mormon.org and talk to the people themselves on what they believe, and not to someone else who doesn't know what we believe. He was an interesting guy!

Anyways, we should have Dawn's baptism this Saturday, and we are super excited for her as well. She came to church because of her friend who was just baptized a few months ago, and she just hit the ground running. She is all set for Saturday, and this will be another very spiritual experience!!

But we are seeing true miracles out here, and everyday is the question, "What miracles will we see today?" It is so awesome to be a missionary, and I'm loving it!!

Sunday Baptism

2011-01-24T18:35:00.009-07:00

EDIT: The pictures are all of Laie in this post. I don't have any from his current area yet.
Aloha!!
Another week down in Kaneohe!! We saw so many miracles again this week!!! We taught 25 lessons, mostly to investigators, and we are being led to the elect. We have a baptism on Sunday, which is for R***. He moved it back a day so he could get his family there! He told me that he "thought it was weird he wasn't a member, but really wanted to serve a mission." Solid!! I told him, and promised him that when he went through the temple for the first time, I'll be there. I'm so excited for this kid, he is just awesome. He was so prepared to receive this gospel!! We also saw D*** a few times. She is still set for Feb. 5th on baptism, and she really wants to see that day as well. She is solid and already has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and prophets.
Other than that, we are hoping for a miracle baptism to happen here soon. The name is K***. She has been to church every week for a few years and just isn't baptized. So we are going to ask her and try to set that day Wednesday. The keiki who was going to get baptized on Saturday, L***, was pushed to Feb. 13. Her grandmother feels she needs to learn more and really know what she's getting into! Which I agree with, we had a few more lessons to teach her, so moving it was a smart idea!Anyways, we are seeing great miracles here in Kaneohe. It is amazing to see the blessings that the Lord has brought into Elder Barraza's and my life as we work hard. We are constantly out trying to teach, and if we're not teaching, we're finding. I love this gospel and everything about it, and I will never doubt that it's true!

More Signs From The Mission

2011-01-23T18:31:00.017-07:00

Elder Travis sent home his memory card and once again it's full of fun signs and things from the mission! As you enter the valley this sign is on the back of an old drive-in movie theater and it was a welcome site to Travis when he came home on his "intermission" to have his surgery.
I was with him when he took this picture. He said, "only in Utah would you see this sign," and you know what? He's probably right!
This was one of Elder Travis' dreams for his mission...seeing the Laie Temple. He was fortunate to do so the day after he arrived back in Oahu after his surgery.
Sometimes on hikes he sees signs like this. It's so sad and it makes you stop and wonder what happened to them. We're so lucky to know that there is a life after this mortal existence is over.
I'm not sure about this sign but I'm posting it bz he took the picture.
I love this license plate and the fact that the holder is from the "Munky Wurks" garage! Sounds like a fun place.
Self-explanatory.
Self-explanatory again. I think I need one of these on my yard for the neighbors dogs (and cats).
The things people think of to put on license plates, lol!
Last but not least a street named for our famous Utah capitol city! I can hardly wait to see what signs are on the next memory card!

Busy Teaching The Gospel And Loving It

2011-01-17T15:12:00.004-07:00

Aloha!!!

Man oh man, we had a terrific week!! I am in the Kaneohe 3rd, and Kaneohe 6th YSA ward. It is awesome!! I love the people here so much, and we have a lot of work to do!! I feel like I'm back in Kaua'i with all we have to do now haha.We have two baptisms next week!! An 8 year old girl, L****, and than R***.R*** went through the open house and was interested in the idea of baptisms for the dead, so he came to church. His friend recently passed away, so he wants to do his baptism for him in the temple. He is awesome!! We actually had a lesson with him this morning (taught him about three times). We shared the first vision with him and he loved it. The spirit was so strong and he told us he knew it was true with all of his heart. His eyes filled with tears as he talked about how he felt the Holy Ghost and a hand on his shoulder as he heard of Joseph Smith's experience. I get terrified when I, personally, have to share the first vision..because it's such a sacred experience I want to make it sound perfect. But through lots of prayer throughout the lesson, I was able to help him feel the spirit, and the conversion of it. It was a blessed moment.
We also have two more baptisms coming up in February with a lady named D***, and a guy named T***. D*** recently gave birth and started coming to church with her friend. She was interested, took the lessons and is now ready to be baptized!! T***'s wife gave birth and he's ready for it as well.

Needless to say, we are seeing so many miracles happen out here. I love being able to see the change others are ready to make!!

The Zone Leader responsibilities are heavy and we have to be a set example. So I try to be that example the Lord expects of me, and I hope I can fulfill that promise. But we are working hard, and seeing so many great things happen!

Transfer News

2011-01-10T15:39:00.005-07:00

Aloha from the beloved mission of Hawaii Honolulu. Must I say that it is getting cold here. It reached 65 the other night, and I really had to bundle up! I kid you not, I was freezing!! Locals say it's cold cold here too!! I guess I adjusted too much. Oh well, haha it'll be warm soon! Just cold now. I had to wear a long sleeve shirt yesterday!

But that's Hawaii weather!!

We got transfer information for those who care!! I was called last night by President Dalton, and he informed me that I would be moving back to....Kaneohe!! Yes...that's right. I'm going to my old zone. But, I am not going back to my old ward/area, I'm covering the wards that the Zone Leaders cover. Did you catch that? I hope you did. They called me as a zone leader, and so the whole perspective I have on missionary work is about to change as I have more responsibility and look to serve the Lord better than I have previously! I am excited, but nervous as well, and it'll be really interesting to see!! My companion will be Elder Barzza, who is from Utah. He has been out 23 months, so I will "kill" him in his last six weeks of his mission. (EDIT from Elder Travis' mom - "killing" him means that he'll see him through to the end of his mission and nothing more sinister than that). He trained Elder Jaramillo, so we have a small connection with each other now. I'm very excited but very nervous. The Zone Leaders usually have good companions and good areas, so I will like that part!

Other than that, Kaimuki is a good place to serve and I had fun here the past two weeks with Elder Solomon. Whoever comes into here will see great miracles the next six weeks!!

A Crazy But Very Happy Month 12

2011-01-09T18:04:00.040-07:00

Elder Travis had a pretty unique month 12 of his mission. He left behind the beautiful sites of Honolulu to come home and have surgery. He marked his one year anniversary here at home recovering. There were other things that happened before he flew home though and I'm going to recap the month for him.
It was a month of more creatures that live in Hawaii. I've never seen such a small Gecko as this one! They like geckos since they eat the blue centipedes.
He left his companionship with Elder Davis and his mom and dad became his new companions with his mission president being our stake president while he was home.
They were able to see some sea turtles while standing on a rocky ridge above the ocean (picture is zoomed in). I'm so happy that sea turtles became part of his mission and I'll share why with you at a later date.
There were more funny signs that he said could only be found in Utah! He's probably right about that too.
There were wonderful gifts from new friends.
There were many times he had to say hello.....
and many hugs he needed to give.
There were new family members to meet (who by the way adored him!)....
and a quick trip to temple square.
There were family pictures to be taken before church too. He also had the rare opportunity for a Hawaiian missionary to shovel snow! He didn't like that so much though.
There were improvisations to be made when there was no room in his closet to hang his clothes.
There was the traditional Christmas Eve party....
and the joy of watching his nieces open their gifts. Savannah fell in love with Uncle Travie too!
He taught his family how to properly cut a pineapple.....
and posed for the traditional picture by the tree in his new Christmas pajamas.
This year I bought him a white T-shirt to go under his Jazz jersey. Usually he gets a graphic T but none seemed appropriate this year.
There was time spent helping his father....
and calling and making his reports to the Zone Leaders and APs since he's a District Leader. Too bad he's wearing that horrid pink tie! Okay,okay, his mom isn't a fan of men in pink. He also kept pulling weird faces every time I tried to get a picture!
He pitched in and did service helping to get dinner going.....

and all too soon it was time to pack up and head back to his full-time mission duties in Hawaii.
The ride was too short....
but it was time and Elder Travis was anxious to go.
A passerby at the airport offered to take a picture of all three of us. We met kind people everywhere during his time home and we're grateful for the rare opportunity to spend time with him while he was set apart as a full-time missionary. Most families only get the chance to be around their missionaries after they're set apart until the next morning when they send them to the MTC and when they arrive home for a couple of hours until their stake president releases them. It was a choice experience I wish every family of a full-time missionary could have and for this experience we all know that we were extremely blessed by our Heavenly Father.

The New Year Begins In Oahu

2011-01-03T16:34:00.009-07:00

EDIT: In the pictures below of Elder Travis the cute young lady by his side at the airport is his sister Kellianne.

Aloha!!
Well the 13 month mark has come, 11 to go. It is so crazy how fast time actually goes in the mission, 11 months doesn't sound like anything, cuz I know it's all downhill from here. My friends begin coming home in April. Crazy.It is so good to be back in Hawaii. I am in the Kaimuki ward (Next to Kahala) which is in the Honolulu Zone. I am with Elder Nathan Solomon who came out with Elder Garritson, so he is about 6 weeks out. He is from Mesa, Arizona.

We had an awesome experience the day I got back!! It was the last day for one of the missionaries (I replaced him) and he was going home early for school. President Dalton called us up and gave us permission to go to Laie and see the temple (and do a session if we had time) since it was his last day!! We were stoked but saw we had no time. Our only appointment in the morning canceled and so we were like..."Um...let's go!" So we did!! It took an hour and a half about to drive up. We called up Elder Garritson and he came and saw us at the temple. It was good to see that little girl again, haha. I told him about the Garritson's wonderful gift that they gave to us! But I took lots of pictures!! (Elder G looks like he's gained weight in Laie!)But ya, everyone says I look way skinny now haha. They say I look very different than I did two weeks ago. Which is funny, cuz I'm at 153 right now, which is almost my MTC weight when I left the MTC.

We joined Kahala for a dinner at the Jay's and it was great to see them again!! They fed us WELL, and I felt like I gained 5 lbs from that alone!!
Another awesome thing, Elder Robert D. Hales of the Twelve was in Hawaii!! He fell ill here and so he called up to two Assistants to give him a blessing!! Wouldn't that be crazy to be a missionary and give an apostle a blessing?? Man, that'd be crazy. He is on the mend so no worries, but he just needed some hospital time.We also did a hike this morning, which was amazing!! It was beautiful with two big waterfalls. A little dangerous, but it was fun too.
New Years was amazing too, we had a lot of fun!! We went to the institute and played games there. Afterwards we went to Sister Freeman’s and had a party with the zone! She lives in a high rise, so we saw a good view of Honolulu and the fireworks. It was crazy. They just put a ban on fireworks which made them completely illegal beginning January 2. So this was the last year for them to go crazy, and they went crazy. I took a video of it, so enjoy!!

"Home" Again

2011-01-01T12:37:00.006-07:00

Elder Travis is back "home" again on his mission in Hawaii. On December 31st we were surprised when we got a letter that Elder Travis wrote from Hawaii on December 29th. Wow! We never get mail that fast. He asked me to blog it so it's typed verbatim below.

Aloha from Hawaii!!

I thought I'd write slightly early.

What a ride we had. I'm so happy I was able to surprise all of you and have this "intermission." Just think...49 more weeks 'til Ill be back and 8 (almost 7) transfers.

The connecting flight was incredibly smooth. I just went right to the terminal, gave 'em my boarding pass, they gave me a new one, and wa la!

Seattle was beautiful of what I saw! However, it was 5 p.m. and it was pitch black! Goodness! My flight to Hawaii wasn't as bumpy as last year. It was smooth...ish. But better than last year! I do miss home and being with all of you but I do miss Hawaii too. It's good to be back and I'm sure this will be a very, very fast year (11 months).

I am happy to go to Kaimuke and be with Elder Solomon.....I won't lie, this pad is better. I don't need to hang dry, and there is only us here. I loved the four-man pad but it's easy to get distracted.

Well, I know as I embark on the last half of this journey that I'll continue to see marvelous things. More miracles. See new people, and come back a better man!

I'll leave you with a thought. Romans 1:16. Don't be ashamed of what makes you who you are. Don't be ashamed of this gospel.....Keep your feet planted in gospel sod and reap the blessings that come.

I love all of you, write me!

The Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ

2010-12-18T22:36:00.012-07:00

*This is taken from a talk/lesson I gave in one of my areas. I wanted to use it to lead into the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I added onto it a little bit, so enjoy!*

Today, I would like to focus on the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. What does the word Atonement mean? If we split this word into three different parts, we see At, One, Ment. If we combine these, it is the beautiful meaning of becoming one with God. Because of the atonement, this is possible.
Pause for a moment, and think about a time you applied this saving power into your life. How did you feel? Why do you think you felt this way? What did it feel like? Think of the love that God has for you, and than think of your favorite picture of Jesus Christ. This is it. This is the evidence of God's love. The ever popular scripture in Christianity, John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son. What a love we have an evidence of.
To outline the events of the Atonement, we have three main stages. 1) The Garden of Gethsemane 2)The Cross of Calvary and 3) The Resurrection.
I want to spend the most time looking into the cleansing power of the Garden of Gethsemane. We will turn to the Bible for the definition of this event.

In Matthews account, we read this. Matthew 26:39 As Jesus entered the garden, he "fell on his face and prayed saying O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." Read those words slowly, He Fell on his face. In uttermost pain and anguish, plead with His father, "please, don't make me do this. Let there be another way. There has to be. But I will do thy will." The perfect, obedient Son, was not going to turn away. He was going to suffer that pain, for us. How great is the love of our Savior. As He prayed, He began to bleed from every pore in His body. This to me, is one of the most significant parts of the Atonement. I wonder as President James E. Faust did, "How many drops of blood were spilt for me?"
Now the Bible is not very clear as to why this suffering happened. As far as biblical scriptures are concerned, we just know He suffered. We don't know why, we don't know what it means to us. This is why I am so thankful for revelation and the Book of Mormon. We read in one of my favorite scriptures in Alma 7:11-12. "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. 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." He suffered every possible human emotion, pain, and mental anguish ever felt by a human. So He can stand by us in our trials, and so He can strengthen us and say "I know how you feel. I know what it feels like to have the very jaws of Hell come against you." Like I said, this is the most significant thing to me. I implore you to put a serious study into this subject and to understand it better than you do today. In the Garden, He had the very devil himself and his legion of angels come attack him and brutally tempt him and cause him pain. But because Jesus Christ knew the dire consequence for us if He had not succeeded in this phase, He pressed on. Think about it. Jesus knew what we would have to face if there was no ransom for our sins. He knew that we would be forever banished from the presence of God after one sin alone. He knew that we would be forever racked with the pains of a damned soul, with NO escape. Unless we were perfect, which none of us are, we could never have a chance to return. But now, there is endless hope that we can return, as long as we allow Jesus Christ to take that pain from us and turn our lives over to Him.
Now, if we move on to the final two events. After our Savior was betrayed by His own special witness, Judas, He was sent to trial. After condemned, He was sentenced to the worst death that could be passed upon him. He was sentenced to crucifixion and to be beaten, down trodden,

whipped, scourged, slapped, hit, abused, spit upon, and numerous more evil doings. He had nails driven through his hands and feet. In fulfillment of Isiah's prophecy "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." (Isaiah 49:16).
Following thereafter, He was lifted on a cross for everyone to see. For more ridicule and temptations to come His way. "If thou be the son of God, save thyself!" As the cries of the people echoed his ears, He turned to heaven and cried "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Until mercifully, He felt the Atonement had been accomplished, He willingly gave up the ghost and on to paradise, forcing a solider to cry out, "Certainly this was a righteous man."
One of my good friends asked an intriguing question once. "Think of how our Father in Heaven must have felt through all of this." I'm sure He would desired so much as His Son plead to Him to let that crushing blow release from Him. I'm sure He was ever so close as He saw the devil himself attack His son in the mortal flesh.
So we conclude, with the last and most defining moment of the Atonement. After three days, our Savior reclaimed His body from the chains of death, and was resurrected. He showed himself unto His disciples and exclaimed in triumph, "Handle me, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." Our Savior concluded His great and marvelous Atonement and made it possible for us to come back into His presence. He had conquered death, shame, guilt, sin, and many terrible things, and made himself life, happiness, peace, love, and many great things. He is the lifter of our heads, He is the great and marvelous Son. Because He redeemed His body, we can so to ours. Because He Lives, We will live again with our families in the presence of God, only if we are willing to be obedient to all things whatsoever the Lord our God commands.

To conclude, I share a favorite passage of the Atonement. In Luke, we read that before Jesus entered the garden, He turned to Peter and said (Luke 22:31-32) Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." I love these words, He has said this individually to us. He prayed for us because He knew of the evil and terrible anguish of Satanic captivity and his desire to destroy us. If we look at this carefully, we pin point the most important part. Jesus states that HE has prayed for us that we can be strong. HE suffered for us so that we can be faithful. But, it is up to us to let that conversion come into our life. It is OUR responsibility to allow Him to take control and to lead us. Than of course, our responsibility is to strengthen our brethren. I want to use a personal example here to demonstrate our Savior's saying. When I was growing up, I was never active. I would go to church every now and again, but I was never consistent. Unless you count a few weeks for consistency, than I wasn't. God played a little role in my eyes in my life. I never read scriptures, rarely said my prayers, but I always knew He was there. One day, after several events happened in my life, I realized I had nothing in life. I was going nowhere, I was living for nothing. I felt a gentle prompting to pray. I thought in my head, "are you kidding? I haven't prayed in years, God doesn't need to hear from me." The next day, I walked into seminary and saw just a small piece of paper on my desk. We were in the Book of Mormon that year, and the paper read simply, "Your assignment is to read from 3 Nephi 11-27. You don't have to read it all, but go as far as you can in the next 70 minutes, and we'll talk about it tomorrow." I was excited because I expected a nap and some day dreaming to occur here. But there was divine intervention. I opened up 3 Nephi 11 to fool my teacher that I was reading, and I read the first verse. I than read the second, than third, fourth, and ended up reading to 3 Nephi 18, and later finishing the assignment at home that night. Something changed within me that day, as I read the experience of the Savior appearing to the Nephites in America, I began to realize the love that Jesus Christ had for me. I had done horrible things in my life, and was so far from the path, that I thought it near impossible to come back. But I felt renewed hope to come back to Him who saves. I felt that gentle prompting that night to "get on your knees, and pray." This time I hearkened to the voice and began to silently pray. Time passed by, and I poured my heart out to the Lord. After I finished praying, I felt an overwhelming amount of the spirit of Christ. I silently exclaimed, as did the people on the road to Emmaus, "Did not my heart burn within me while I talked with Him by the way?"
But this was not the end. Unfortunately, I did not fully act on this intention as I should have. The most important thing about this, was the fact that I rooted my heart into Jesus, and knew where my heart belonged. It wasn't until early 2009 when the bishop of my ward came to my house with his councilor to see how I was doing. I can still picture the night. It was February and I was watching the Jazz vs. Lakers game. It just BARELY reached half-time (note, the Jazz were demolishing!) when I heard a knock at the door. When I answered I saw Bishop and Bro. Stevens. I joked and said, "Bishop, if you had come five minutes ago, I would have turned you away! My Jazz are on a roll!" After a little talk, Bishop invited me to church the following Sunday. I accepted and told him I would come. I pondered about it until Sunday morning. When I woke up, I didn't want to go, but I didn't want to fall out on a commitment I made. So I showed up to church! After sacrament meeting, I contemplated about staying for the rest of church (It was rare that I would stay longer than an hour). After talking with some people, I decided to attend the rest of church. What happened next, changed the course of my life forever. It was the first day of teaching for the ward's new mission leader in mission prep class. I had thought about a mission, but never seriously and to be honest, was probably not going to go. Ajay Salvesen taught one of the most powerful lessons I have ever witnessed in my life. This lesson was full of the spirit, and impacted my heart like a ton of bricks. I remember after the class ended, Ajay approached me (He knew I was inactive). I was just sitting in my chair, kinda shocked, and he asked me if I was ok. I said, "Yeah! I'm great!" and went off to Elders Quorum. What he didn't know than, was that very day, after the lesson I told God in my heart, "Alright, I know what I have to do. I will dedicate two years of my life to your service, if you help me prepare." For the course of February to August, I rarely missed a Sunday and with the immense help of Ajay, I was prepared to serve a mission. I received my mission call to Hawaii in August, and left the following December. The year of 2009 was life changing for me, all simply because of an invitation to church, and the Lord's powerful inspiration to Ajay on what to teach that Sunday.
Now to tie this story all into one, and go back to this scripture. I know what it's like to have Satan sift you. I know what it's like to feel his terrible grasp in life and to feel like you have no hope. I know what it's like to have to deal with the pain of an anguished soul, and cry out as Alma, "O Jesus, thou Son of God...have mercy on me." But because of the Atonement, and my Savior suffering for me, I was converted. Now currently, I am working on strengthening my brethren in Hawaii and helping them see God's love for us.
I love this Gospel so much. I have learned so much about the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ, and have learned how to apply it into many aspects of my life. I will never fully understand, or comprehend what happened in that course of a few days. But I will always understand the simple facts that He lives again, He loves us, and He still speaks His word to us today through Prophets and Apostles. I Know That My Redeemer Lives. What Comfort This Sweet Sentence Gives. He Lives, He Lives Who Once Was Dead. He Lives My Ever Living Head. He Lives To Bless Me With His Love. He Lives To Plead For Me Above. He Lives My Hungry Soul To Feed. He Lives To Bless In Time Of Need.

I leave all of this with you in the sacred name of our Savior, Lord, and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Year Mark Has Come "Ross Day"

2010-12-09T11:46:00.019-07:00

Aloha my dear friends!!
December 9, 2009 I entered the MTC to begin my training as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Now, one year later, I am home recovering from surgery, and expect to serve the last year of my mission.
Let me take a step back and look into the past!
I was in the MTC from December 9-December 29. My MTC Companion was Elder Bridges from Laie, Hawaii. Here in the MTC, I met some awesome people and some of my best friends!! The other half of our district went to the Raleigh, North Carolina mission, where all are now in leadership positions. The MTC was one of the best experiences of my life, and where I truly learned the love of the Savior.
I flew to Hawaii and began my service in Kalaheo, Kauai (The island west of O'ahu) with my trainer, Elder Major. I was there from December 30-March 23. Kalaheo was an amazing area that was truly blessed by the Lord. Elder Major and I saw so many miracles and saw so many baptisms. We both learned a lot in the brief three months we were together. In this area, I would say is where I learned how to become the best person I could be. To trust in the Lord, and watch miracles unfold before my eyes.
After Kalaheo, I was transfered to the Kailua 2nd/Kaneohe 5th Tongan branch on the east side of O'ahu. I was here from March 24-July 26. I served with Elder Standiford for three months, and Elder Pyle for six weeks. This area was a little slower than Kauai, but I learned how to work hard, how to never give up and always keep my eye single to the glory of God. Unfortunately, while with Elder Standiford, I began getting sick and was unable to work as hard as I would have liked to. I blessed with patience and learning to take it in the Lord's time. Here, I found out I would probably be getting my tonsils removed in the near future.

I loved the Tongan ward and the Military ward. The members here taught me a lot, and I saw so much sacrifice come from these members. The Tongans showed their love (especially through food!!) and the military ward surprised me continually as they sacrificed time to go with us, or would help us in any way possible!!
After Kailua, I moved to Kahala/Hawaii Kai. The south shore of O'ahu. I have been here since July 27, and will probably be there till January 11. I have served with Elder Garritson and Elder Davis. I was blessed to be around Elder Garritson for four months, and serve with him for three. We both trained and were made a District Leader after that as he white-washed Hawaii Kai and we lived in the same pad. Here in Kahala, I put into practice the things I learned in Kailua. Keep working hard and expect miracles to happen. Elder Garritson and I had the best day of our mission, which was August 21, 2010, when we saw Uncle and Auntie Jay be baptized. We witnessed as they gave it all to the Lord and have been diligent in their service since.
So, I am in complete aw as I think that it has been 365 days. 12 months. 1 year. I have hit the "Ross Day" (haha) and now have only half way to go. I am home now recovering from surgery, but will return as soon as I can! I have seen so many miracles happen since December 9, 2009. I can promise anyone who reads this, that if you are contemplating the idea of a mission, GO! It has been the best experience of my life, and it will be of yours. You will learn so much, and your testimony will become unshaken. No one can tell me that this church isn't true. I know that God has told me through the Holy Ghost that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. Joseph Smith restored God's church back on this earth. Jesus is the Christ, He is the reason we are able to repent, be with our family forever, and feel those blessings. We can only feel those blessings and great gifts as we LIVE the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary, and I love serving the Lord. I will blink and the next 365 days will fly by me again. Until than, I will serve with all my heart and soul in search for the humble and the meek who are ready to enter into the fold of our Father in Heaven.

Welcome Back To Logan, UT

2010-12-07T10:46:00.009-07:00

Well I'm sure all of ya now know that I am back in Logan, my hometown!! I came back because I've been sick throughout my mission, and had to satisfy insurance before they would remove the part of me that is causing it! Which is my tonsils! So I am here for a few weeks to get that taken care of!! It is FREEZING here, it was 80 degrees in Hawaii on Wednesday. But I just thought I'd post a few pictures of what I've been doing since than.
First off, I visited the Garritson family. Elder Garritson was my last companion and he gave me things to bring to them. So we swung by, I talked their son up to sound like he's amazing (which he is) and than headed for Cache Valley!
After we got in the valley we kinda "toured" it. We drove around and I took a bunch of pictures to document it all!! I love Logan and Utah State that's for sure!!
I saw my grandpa and grandma, and boy they sure had a surprised look on their face!!
My parents did a good job of keeping this ALL a secret that I'd be coming home to have surgery. So they had NO idea..so my mom called a "family conference" and I walked into surprise them!! haha.
I went to SLC to see the lights, and talked to quite a few sister missionaries, and a few other girls (unwillingly) that was a ...interesting night! haha.
Well anyways, I had my surgery Monday and I am now recovering. It's good to finally have them out so I can return to Hawaii at full force and work harder than I have. As for my area, Kahala, and Elder Davis..a new companion came in, Elder Taylor for Canada, and they will work together while I'm gone. When I return I will be in a tripanionship with both of them, and I'll probably transfer from Kahala shortly afterwards since this transfer ends January 9th. But thank you for all of your prayers, I am excited to return to work, and finish out the second half of my mission. Which in a way, this goodbye to the family will be a lot easier since I'll see them in a year!! I'll say goodbye for a year instead of two! A little easier if ya ask me! haha.
But to finish off, I know the church is true!! I love the Book of Mormon! I've been privileged to watch conference while I'm home (My ma got me the DVD's) and I love listening to the words of the prophets!! My goal is to watch a full conference every day! We'll see how it goes!! The video is the video I took when I surprised the kids. It was hilarious cuz they just sat there for a minute staring at me until Nicko asked, "What are you doing here?" Than it kinda clicked that it was me!! Kodak moment!!

Intermission

2010-12-06T19:50:00.003-07:00

This may be old news to some but if you aren't on Facebook this will be new. Elder Travis is home for a couple of weeks to have surgery and recuperate (tonsillectomy). He had his surgery this morning without any complications. He's calling this an "intermission" in his mission. The first picture was taken at Temple Square on Friday and the last picture is of him after his surgery.

He's still a full-time missionary and is abiding by mission rules while he's home. He misses everyone in Hawaii and is anxious to get back "home" to the mission field. Thank you for your prayers for a speedy recovery and for your support.

Elder Garritson

2010-12-04T22:48:00.010-07:00

Well, transfers was this week. The news came in Sunday night, and we found out the tragic news...Elder Garritson will be transferring from Hawaii Kai to Laie.
Elder G (Gar-Bear) was definately one of my favorite elders. My favorite companion definitely. We met at President Peterson's farewell, and I remember him giving his "greenie" testimony and I thought, "I want him as my companion!!" Well, three weeks later, we paired up in Kahala.
We had a lot of great memories. We baptized the best people August 21, 2010. We saw so many miracles and so many great things happen. We fought over USU and BYU all the time, and which was better.
Elder Garritson has a tremendous outlook on the work though. He is a remarkable Elder and I was so very honored to be his companion for three months, and be around him another six weeks in the same pad. He taught me a lot, and I hope I taught him a lot as well. He will definitely be a leader in the Hawaii Honolulu mission. He is a district leader now after only three transfers, and will be a zone leader, and then an assistant to the president soon.
I just wanted to do a blog on how much I love this kid even though he's a "little girl" and how much he taught me. We made a life long friendship and even though he's a cougar...I still love him!! If anyone wants to hear a pure strong testimony on the truthfulness of this gospel, he is the one to talk to. When I was first with him, I was 7 and a half months into my mission. I realized in the first few hours I was with him teaching, that I did not bear my testimony enough. He taught me to focus on how you know it's true, not just what you know. I wish him well in Laie, but will truly miss him in Kahala, and having even more memories in the beloved Honolulu zone.

Cultural Celebration and Laie Temple Dedication

2010-11-22T20:34:00.003-07:00

Aloha!!!

So this week I had shorter time on the letter to the family so this will be a little better than the letter you get this week!! I sent my memory card home too haha. So be ready for that.

Anyways, so Saturday Elder Pieper of the Seventy came to talk to us. He was with us from 8 to noon or one. He interviewed Elder Garritson. That was way awesome haha, I was excited for him. But he just educated us and taught us how to receive revelation or answers to questions we have. He's really intelligent and knows what he's doing obviously! haha.
Later that night we had the cultural celebration. President Monson gave a talk at first (it was broadcast at the tab!) and he is so funny!! He is hilarious. He's comedy. I recorded that talk, he was funny! haha. But the celebration was awesome, interesting, but awesome.Then Sunday was the dedication of the Laie Hawaii temple. It was so spiritual. It was the first dedication I could remember. It was awesome though. President Thomas S. Monson, President Henry B. Eyring, and Elder Quintin L. Cook of the Twelve came to dedicate it. Emotions were running high with members that day. The feelings were strong as the house of the Lord was dedicated and ready for use again. We could all feel that the Lord approved of His house and was ready to receive the work for the dead.But that was it, we couldn't teach S*** this week so it was rougher week, not much work going on in Kahala, but we're working hard!!

Also my thought for the week: I was reading a book called "Truth Restored". Wow. That was a good book! I read it in two days cuz it caught my interest so much. I loved the stories it shared on pioneers. I seem to always forget the sacrifice they make. It's so touching to think of the love they have for God and the gospel, and how dedicated they were to it. They never turned back. They came to a desert in Utah and made the prophesy of Joseph Smith fulfilled!

Anyways, I love all of you and can't wait to hear from you!! Aloha!!

Teaching By The Spirit

2010-11-15T18:24:00.008-07:00

Aloha!!

Wow what the week we had. I did service in Pearl Harbor again, which I told you about in a letter. That was pretty awesome!! We had a lot of fun doing that!!

We found a new solid person to teach. Her name is S***. Her friend, Tamara, who is a recent convert and was baptized in May, called us up (I was with Elder Jaramillo on exchanges) and she told us to come over quickly cuz her friend was asking questions and she was about to leave. So we booked it over to her house and went in with complete faith. We could tell her friend did not want to meet with us. It made it awkward. But we applied the trainings we had on those new fundamental principles and it changed the whole attitude of the lesson. We committed he to baptism without a set date. She didn't seem too sure, but she accepted. We than got into the restoration after talking about Christ on the earth, and as we talked about the first vision, the spirit just filled the room. It was so strong in their, and she started to cry. She couldn't describe how she felt, and Tamara helped her to recognize..it was the Holy Ghost. We set a date for baptism with her and she knew she had to be baptized than. She is set for the 25 of December (yes Christmas haha). She was so prepared, but I know these new trainings are so important and are inspired of the Lord. It opened that lesson right up. It was the best lesson I've ever taught as a missionary, and it was so awesome. It helped her open up to us even though she didn't want to meet with us at first, and now she wants to be baptized. Did she do a 180? Yes! haha
Anyways, the rest is in a letter so I won't ruin that for you :)

Love you and write me letters!!!

Trav

Training And Investigators

2010-11-08T17:28:00.008-07:00

We saw great miracles this week. We had a huge training in Kalihi which is past Honolulu for 3 days from 8-3 which was good. it was helpful and I really learned a lot!!!

But on the other hand, there is a former investigator taught a while ago, H***, and her 10 year old A***, who we haven't been able to get a hold of for months!! I called her on Friday and we were able to finally make contact!! We ended up inviting her to the temple and did service for her on Saturday morning. We are going back this week to help her out!! So I hope we can get back to her.

We also were going to dinner one night (by ourselves) when I passed by a guy I remember tracting into. I felt like we should stop and see him but I didn't want to. But than I saw him outside and decided to pull over. We talked to him and he remembered us. It was cool to talk to him, and he actually fed us dinner last night. He is such a nice guy, and is kinda lonely. It was nice to talk and teach him a bit about the church!!

We got a referral from the temple open house today, we will see them sometime this week!!!

I also found out that C*** and C*** A***in Kalaheo were baptized!!! Officially, so that was really awesome to hear about!!!

Sean emailed me too and wants to go to lunch, so I will go with him this week as well!!!

Also on Wednesday, we will be going back to Pearl Harbor to do service. I'm pretty excited about it!! Hopefully we can do more of a tour this time, but we'll see!!!

Anyway, today is the 11 month mark to when I was set apart as a missionary. In a month, it'll be a year. That is pretty weird. It's been so fast, and hard to really fathom it all. Crazy.

Anyway this was a miracle week and I'm sure we'll keep seeing more as we work hard and are diligent!!!

MTC Flashback

2010-11-05T12:13:00.006-06:00

Note: This is being posted by Elder Travis' mother.
With all the news coverage in Utah about the upcoming trial of Brian David Mitchell and his abduction of Elizabeth Smart from her home I decided to mention an experience that Elder Travis had in the MTC.

He was sitting down at lunch and/or dinner talking to a very sweet Sister Missionary when he happened to glance down at her name tag and it said "Sister Smart." He didn't even realize that he'd been talking to Elizabeth Smart since she had cut her hair and grown into a very poised beautiful young woman. All he knew was that he was talking to a Sister Missionary who had been called to serve in France. I posted the picture above first bz it makes me smile to think of the great, and I'm sure, indescribable joy her family felt when she was found alive and returned to their arms again. What a miracle and beautiful tender mercy from the Lord this family received. I'm sure all of heaven rejoiced with them that day.This picture above is more of how Elizabeth looked in December of 2009 as she was in the MTC preparing to leave on an LDS mission for 18 months. It's unfortunate that she has to return from her mission to testify in his trial but I admire her courage for doing so and I know Travis does too.

New Elder And An Oahu Update

2010-10-27T11:43:00.006-06:00

Aloha!!

We had a great week. I have my new companion, who is Elder Davis, from Las Vegas. (Davis from Vegas). He is...5 days in the mission field haha. He's a great elder, has a great outlook on the work, and is a hard worker. We will see great things in Kahala the next 6 weeks.

Being a district leader is interesting, we are more busy, but it's fun working with the other elders and seeing how they do work. I'm over McCully, and Manoa. So we have 6 elders in our district, but we are going to really see miraculous things happen!!!

Our 13 year old investigator went to the Laie temple open house and LOVED it. He said he wants to live there, so we will invite him to be baptized this lesson and hope to see something come about :) We need a baptism in Kahala, and I'm praying we'll see one soon for Elder Davis :).

I heard about the Aggies loss to Hawaii. A lot of UH fans are here, and they know I'm all for USU, so they let me know haha. There was a visitor from Centerville who I sat in front of. He showed me his tie, which conveniently was ...Utah State!! After church he gave it to me, I was very surprised and felt bad I had nothing to give him in return. But it's hanging in my room :) And my plan is to walk off the plane with this tie on :)

A Surprising Transfer Twist

2010-10-18T18:36:00.009-06:00

Aloha!!

Well transfer calls came in.
Sunday night we were informed Elder Garritson was being transferred. We were both pretty sad we wouldn't be staying together in Kahala and Hawaii Kai. But for the past week, I've had a gut feeling that I was going to train or be a district leader.
Well Monday morning, President Dalton called Elder G. and they had a long talk, than he pawned the phone off to me. I knew it was coming. "Elder Smith, the Lord needs you to train a missionary, can you do it?" Of course I told him I'd try my best. "Good to hear Elder Smith, with you being a district leader for a transfer, you already have experience we are excited for you!" "Wait...what?? I'm not district leader President!" I replied. "Oh, that's right. Elder, the Lord has another calling for you, you are going to be a district leader, can you handle it?" haha, it was hilarious but it wasn't at all surprising (meaning he'd had a feeling that this would happen to him). Let me tell you what WAS surprising. Elder Garritson was informed he was going to train, be a district leader, and white wash into a new area...Hawaii Kai!!! (In a later email he explained what "white wash" was....."white wash - he will be going into a new area, and his companion will be, meaning he doesn't know anyone or anything and neither one have been in the area, so they have to start at square one. But it's not a real white wash cuz we covered Hawaii Kai last transfer"). I was sad to lose Hawaii Kai cuz things were picking up, but they deserve full time missionaries, and great missionaries such as Elder Garritson.
So we found out that he will be moving into the room RIGHT next door to us. So we have a four man pad, and will be around each other still.
So now, I'm strictly Kahala missionaries, and will train, and now provide trainings for another set of missionaries, and be more involved in leadership. I'm nervous, scared, and excited. It will be exciting to see what happens.

Elder Travis' Mom's Inbox

2010-10-17T19:17:00.004-06:00

Elder Travis' mom here: I found this email in my inbox an hour or so ago. It's from Elder Hatch's mom.

"I saw Elder Smith Today. He looks great. I gave him a hug for you. He is really in the mission spirit. He is doing well and loves the mission. It was a treat to see him since we have shared online."

I knew her son was being released soon after serving an honorable mission. I never expected to see this though, or that she'd actually meet my son out there! I guess if I can't give him a hug this is the next best thing!

Oh, and aren't these trees the craziest thing ever?!

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Are Signs

2010-10-16T12:36:00.009-06:00

I just got Elder Travis' memory card and had fun looking at all the signs he sent pictures of. I've very intrigued by this "Kiss and Ride" sign with "Drop-off and Pick-up!" Now that's the "Aloha Spirit," lol!

In high school one of Elder Trav's friends, who was a girl, used to call him "manimal" so this decal really must have made him smile!

Dog the Bounty Hunter....
but I prefer the young man on the left!
The danger signs are all along a trail for a hike they took up Kuliouou. More pictures of this hike will be posted with his email next week.
A warning sign for a hazardous cliff.

Transfers are this week so I'm really excited to see where the Lord calls him to next. One things for sure, if there's a unique sign in that area Elder Travis will find it!

Letters And Laughs

2010-10-08T10:25:00.005-06:00

This is part of a letter we just received from Elder Travis yesterday and the conversation below gave us a good laugh!

"Brother J*** turned to me randomly and patted my stomach and said, "are you gaining weight? Do you need your pants fixed?" Haha, he's so funny. So Sister J*** is fixing them!"

Ironically I had just asked Travis if he'd been losing weight bz his face was looking thinner or if his swollen glands were finally gone! In my letter he says, "I'm glad it looks like I lost weight cuz I lost 5 lbs, lol! I'm still swollen though. Ugh."

I'm pretty sure this comment came from Brother J*** bz I'd just spoken with his good friend, who lives in our valley, a couple of weeks ago and had casually mentioned Travis would be sending home his suit pants for me to attempt to alter. I've already rehemmed all of his everyday pants, lol! She had told me to have him ask Sister J*** bz she was a professional seamstress. Travis had never asked her for this favor. I'll have to think of something special to send for Travis to give them before transfers happen again (just in case he's transferred off Oahu).

October Conference And An Upcoming Baptism

2010-10-05T11:20:00.010-06:00

Aloha!!!

So this week was slower cuz of the 10 hours of conference that we were edified in, which was perfectly ok. I loved this conference. I loved the counsel given to all of us!! My favorite talk was by Elder Holland obviously, that talk was amazing. It was awesome to stand when Elder Nelson had missionaries stand in Priesthood. It was cool to know I was standing with 52,000 other missionaries with a tag on. I loved the great messages :). I'm excited to listen to them again and to study them through again!! President Uchtdorf makes me laugh, he is so hilarious. It was weird when he lost his voice, but he made me laugh so hard....haha he is so funny!

I feel Elder Hollands talk was very timely and very good :) It was exactly what I was thinking about!!

Two more weeks till transfers!! That is crazy. I wouldn't mind being with Elder Garritson for 6 more weeks, he's an awesome Elder. We've had fun as well!!

Anyways, it was a fun week and we had a lot of fun listening to conference. Back to a full week of work. Oh, and President Dalton didn't really say anything about the temple, so I'm not sure if we will be involved in the open house (which President Monson made mention of :).)
We have a baptism Saturday for that 8 year old girl :) So we're really excited for that!!!

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland October Conference 2010

2010-10-02T22:21:00.004-06:00

Note: This post is being written by Elder Travis' mother.

Elder Holland has a way with words and public speaking that touches Elder Travis' heart. He's had me print out every talk I could find by him and he uses many of them in teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ while on his mission.

As I listened to Elder Holland's talk in conference today I could picture my son's face as he heard the words that were spoken from the pulpit. I was overcome with emotion and my own heart was filled to overflowing. It was almost like I was there, sitting by Travis in the chapel in Hawaii as he feasted on the words and basked in the spirit. If you are, or have ever been, the parent of an LDS missionary Elder Holland's words and the spirit in which they were delivered will speak to your heart. May God bless all the missionaries serving world-wide and keep them in the hollow of his hand.

Awesome Week And A Hike!

2010-09-27T18:30:00.009-06:00

My oh my we had an awesome week. So a while ago we tracted into a guy who we did service for. We cut down bamboo trees!! Well anyway, he invited us to a dinner and we accepted!! Well we went over and he asked us if we wanted beer or wine...I was like uhh water?....so we got water and was like oh my heck we gotta go, everyone is drinking, we probably shouldn't be here! So we ate dinner and my comp was like alright let's get out of here. Right as we were about to leave we were blocked by a dancing Japanese lady, so we had to stick around and wait a while.

The cool part was there was this lady who took the Book of Mormon I had with me, out of my hands. I was going to give her our number so she could call us if she was interested, but she approached us and asked us about the "last days". So we talked about the POS (Plan Of Salvation) and families being together forever, as well as prophets. She soaked it all up. She loved it!! She wanted us to go to her house and teach her so we grabbed her address. We haven't been able to meet with her yet, but it's amazing how the Lord will place in our paths, people who are ready to receive the gospel. It's prayers from members that make these things happen!! It's awesome to see these types of things happen!I sure do love being a missionary!
The hikes we've been doing have been the valleys by Kahala and Kuliouou. When we get up we can look right down on Waimanalo and Kailua so it's really cool!!Love you!!! Bolyoke!! Love you again!! Enjoy Conference!!

Grampa Would Have Loved This

2010-09-26T18:32:00.002-06:00

Travis' grandpa hated cats. He would have loved to have had this sign on his fence!

More Signs

2010-09-19T20:36:00.002-06:00

In looking over Elder Travis' blog I realized I hadn't posted these two funny Burger King pictures.
This is so unusual from what Elder Travis sees back in Utah and it's been fun to post these for him!

Because Kindness Matters

2010-09-13T19:57:00.004-06:00

Note: This post is being done by Elder Travis' mother.

While out tracting Elder Travis and Elder Garritson knocked on the door of this gentleman above. He thought they were crazy palangi (white people) when they asked if he had any service they could do after he told them he wasn't interested in hearing about our church. After he felt comfortable that they were just nice young men he allowed them to come back and cut bamboo for a couple of hours.
Today we received these pictures in an email (I noticed copies were sent to Elder Garritson too). This just goes to prove that there are kind people in the world of many different faiths. These pictures mean so much to us bz we can see Elder Travis through someone else's eyes. It's reassuring to know how much kindness really does matter.

Signs Of Oahu

2010-09-11T10:02:00.005-06:00

Elder Travis' dad received this picture in his email from someone that we don't know at all. We assume it's someone Travis knows on his mission and gave his dad's email address to. It was nice to see him looking so good!
Travis sent us a picture of this blue stop sign...
and two more funny Burger King signs.

Burger King in other cities or states may have similar signs but not in our little town. I find them incredibly funny so he keeps taking more pictures of them for me!