1 Month (Week 8)

 This week I hit 1 month here in Hawai'i, and it has been quite the experience so far. 

 On Wednesday I went on exchanges with one of my Zone Leaders, Elder Hawkes and he's an absolute grinder. We went to the cliffs and had a comp study and met this guy who's supposedly a member from the island nation of Chuuk, and he's living in a tent while his family is living in a homeless shelter. He was wondering if we could give him a ride to Walmart but we can't let people in our cars so that was really tough to say no, but we offered to go pick up groceries for him but he was trying to pick up money from Walmart so we couldn't really help with that which was hard. 

We sat down on these rocks and started comp study and then this lady, who has made a makeshift house/shelter out of tents and canopies, came up to us and asked if she could use one of our phones to call her girlfriend and we gave it to her. Then Elder Hawkes just got to know her and told her who we were and asked if she wanted to hear a message about Jesus Christ and she said "Yeah, for sure" and I was impressed but Elder Hawkes said "Dude that never happens." We sat down and started doing our comp study again and then 3 cops pulled up and I guess they were trying to kick this lady and whoever else lives in the makeshift shelter out of there because I'm pretty sure it's public ground. At one point when she was yelling at the cops she pointed at us and said "See those guys! They're doing good things! You should be like them!" So that was funny and weird and we felt awkward so we left before we got dragged into it. 

    

On Friday we went to this guys house. We've been waiting for the right moment to teach this guy whose wife is a member and he has a 2 year old boy and a newborn baby boy.  This 2 year old boy loves me and my comp; he's so fun and funny. I gave him my key fob and I showed how to honk the horn by pressing the button and that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do because he then honked the horn a lot and he wouldn't give the key fob back, haha. Anyway, we shared a message with the family after dinner about the restoration and the husband was super into it. He had lots of questions and his wife was super happy so that was awesome. His name is Shawn and we're going back and teaching him again so please pray for him!

Saturday we talked with this guy who is an inactive member and he owns Angel Farms. People come to this farm who have diabetes and organ failures and they get "healed" by this guy's wife. His wife hypnotizes them and takes them back to the God that made them or something wacky like that so I'm not sure what voodoo stuff they're using but it's quite strange. 

Saturday night, I'm just chillin and a video gets sent to our Mission group chat by a former missionary who finished a transfer ago. This video was him on the BYU football field with all of the BYU students after they rushed it after BYU beat Utah and I got literal CHILLS! It's so hype, so shout out to BYU football for making my week.

Also shout-out to Brynlee for being the bestest friend.

This week I challenge you guys to use Moroni's Promise which is found in Moroni 10:3-5 

"3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

I invite you guys to use this promise, whether it's to find out for yourself if the Book of Mormon is true or anything else that you may be struggling with, or don't know for yourself of it's truthfulness about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 

Love to all

-Elder Alec Shockley