Final Transfer

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

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

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"

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!

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!

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

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

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

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!

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 :)