Transfer Week

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!!!

Changing Islands

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

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!!!!

Good News! They're Free!

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!!

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!!

Member Missionaries

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

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.

A Pretty Decent Week

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

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

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

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!

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.

Sunday Baptism

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!

Transfer News

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!!