The Best Week Of His Mission

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!!