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This week has been awesome! By far the best week so far on my mission! 

Monday- after p day ended we had a lesson with a guy and it was the most frustrating thing ever. We didnt feel like he was getting anything we were saying and it was super tough, but still totally awesome because we taught a lesson haha.

Tuesday-was good no big stories from tuesday we had two Larcs so that was good!(larc means less-active or recent convert lesson) We really deep cleaned our car so we could win the 10 subway card at zone conference and our car looked brand new haha.

Wednesday- Wednesday was the bomb! We had zone conference it was so awesome! I learned so much. Our mission has really been focusing on having the faith to baptize. I was really getting frustrated with this because i felt like i had enough faith, but we still haven't been seeing any results. During zone conference we had a training with president brough and guess what it was on! Building the faith to baptize it was so good! We also learned more about using Facebook in our work. It was so crazy hearing everything that missionaries are doing now! He shared Saids story and even showed pictures of our lesson with him and pictures of my family and Said at his baptism. Anyways we basically have free reign to do whatever we want. We can Skype or facetime lessons with anyone. There's even some people that have had their mom Skype into their lessons and taught with them! Its crazy how different missionary work is now! After zone conference we went on exchanges. I was nervous because we had a lesson planned with someone I've never met before and i was on exchanges with Elder Spencer and he came out with me so we were nervous haha. The lesson went amazing though the spirit was so strong!

Thursday- Thursday was crazy! We were able to facebook video chat with one of Elder Spencer's friends from back home and teach her a lesson. It was so awesome that we are able to do that! I cant believe we can do the things we can do! The spirit was so strong and it was really cool to be able to see Elder Spencer touch her friend and be able to feel his love for her. She even accepted the invitation to be baptized! 

Friday- We were able to have another lesson which was really frustrating again. People probably interrupted our lesson like 10 times. It was really tough to get anything in. We went out contacting and we saw two guys in their garage so i yelled hey to them and walked up their drive to start talking to them, and the guy started telling us that Brigham Young murdered thousands of people and started our church. I was like what haha and then all of the sudden this lady came out of the house screaming at us to get off her property we were trespassing. I was like what the heck so we just left. People here are so funny and sometimes pretty mean haha.

Saturday- We had two lessons that went amazing! I love teaching the people here because they really question everything we teach them. They all have faith in christ so its really a challenge to help them see why the gospel is relevant to them. It really stretches me and i love it! Both of the people we taught are now progressing and Im thinking we are going to baptize them! Haha

Sunday- Today was just icing on the cake! So one of the people we invited to church yesterday said they might come, but maybe not. And right before church started he came walking in. I was so happy haha i was freaking out. This was the first investigator that we invited that actually came. Well we had another one there today too, but his wife is a member and his daughter was getting baptized today, so we were expecting him to be there but it as still awesome he came! Anyways we had two investigators at church and i was super pumped about that! After church we attended Kyla's baptism and it was awesome! We gave the talks i talked about the holy ghost i felt like it was good i was super nervous though haha. One thing that made me really mad though was when we filled up the font it was so dusty it hasn't been used since January that was the last time the missionaries had a baptism! So ya were going to change that pretty soon! 

So this week was awesome! We are starting to see miracles happen here and its amazing. My faith just keeps getting stronger and stronger. Im finding so much love for the people its so amazing. The lessons that were having are just bringing me so much joy. To see people progressing and growing closer to christ is the best feeling in the world. It makes every hard day worth it. I cant even describe the feeling that it brings to me. Im loving this work so much. I just cant wait till we start baptizing people i cant even imagine what the feeling is going to be like! It's so amazing to be able to represent Jesus Christ and help people come unto him. The spirit is so strong and I'm growing so much closer to my savior and it's such a humbling experience! To know that there's a perfect being out there who loves you and me more then we can even comprehend and that he gave up his life for us! It's such an amazing thing I still can't even grasp the magnitude of the atonement and what it has done for us. Im just so grateful for that knowledge that I have about my savior, and I hope you are too! Once again thank you for all of the love and support! It means so much to me to hear from you and it helps me out so much so thank you!

Much love,

Elder Taeoalii

Sent from my iPad

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This part is from Kelly...I got a couple cute pictures this week and have a few I haven't shared yet from the past.  Jerry Dickenson, in Moses' ward in Greenville, is so wonderful and sends me all sorts of fun things.  Here are a few....

Moses speaking at the baptism about the Holy Ghost

This one cracks me up!  It's Moses giving the closing prayer in Sacrament meeting. hahaha

​Moses pulling weeds in front of Jerry's cute house

Thrift store shoppin hahaha

A typical Kentucky Road
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​That's all for now!  xoxox
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180

First things first I just want to thank everyone who prayed for me. I really felt them bear me up and it means so much to know that I have so much support from all of you! Im sorry I didn't write an email last week I honestly didn't have anything good to say so I thought it would be better if I didn't say anything at all. This week was really hard for me ive been struggling really bad. I was able to go out and work all week with just a two headaches which was good. From Friday till now has been awesome though! Im 100% and doing great! 

The reason is because of two things, the first is the enabling power of the atonement. We got a packet when we first came out called the atonement packet, it has a bunch of good talks on the atonement. Well i was reading it and read a talk that Elder Bednar gave while he was president of BYU-Idaho called "In the Strength of the Lord". He talks about what the enabling power of the atonement means. Describing what the enabling power is he said,  "Grace represents that divine assistance or heavenly help each of us will desperately need to qualify for the celestial kingdom. Thus the enabling power of the Atonement strengthens us to do and be good and serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity." 

He then talks about how we can apply it. He goes into detail about the story of Nephi loosing his bands when his brother tied him up in 1 Nephi 7. He then gives what we get out of the story he says, " Brothers and sisters, the implication of this episode for each of us is quite straightforward. As you and I come to understand and employ the enabling power of the atonement in our personal lives, we will pray and seek for strength to change our circumstances rather then praying for our circumstances to be changed. We will become agents who "act" rather than objects that are "acted upon". 

This hit me so strong and has helped me out so much. We all have the ability no matter how bleak or how dark our situation is to overcome what we face. God never gives us trials that we cannot overcome, The real question is are we going to turn to the savior for the strength to do it. Ever since I have read that I have been praying for the strength to overcome the things I've been facing rather then for them to go away. This has helped me out so much, and I've literally felt the savior bear me up and strengthen me to face what I've been dealing with. What an amazing blessing it is to be able to know that there is a perfect being out there who has gone through everything that we have, and all we have to do is turn to him and he will wrap his arms around us and carry us through our trials. He is waiting for us to ask him, and even if we don't he is standing right next to us with open arms. I pray that all of you as you face your trials will turn to the savior and ask that through the enabling power of his atonement for the strength to overcome anything you face. I testify that the savior through his enabling power will give you the strength to overcome all things. 

The second thing that has really helped me overcome what I've been facing is through Brother Crenshaw. Brother Crenshaw travels around and helps missionaries who are really struggling and i was able to meet with him on Friday. The meeting was amazing and I was able to learn a lot about myself and how to overcome my problems. He not only helped with that but helped me come up with some things to do to really change our area. The members in our area aren't that excited about missionary work, and we are having a tough time working with them because our ward mission leader is not the greatest haha. Its not his fault though his family is facing some super hard trials, so he cant do much. What were going to do to "fire" up our ward is through M&M training. Every week were going to have a member and missionary training to go over what they can do and how they can help us out. Were really excited to start it and we think it will be really successful. We have come up with a bunch of ways that they can help us and hopefully we can start seeing a lot of big things happen around here! We are meeting with bishop this week to go over it with him and see how he feels about it, so i let you guys know next week how that goes!

These two experiences and all of your guys prayers have really caused me to do a complete 180. Im so happy now and loving the work! This is really long already so I'll just add one quick story. Yesterday we met some people that we thought were potentials, because they called us out of no where and asked us to help them move, we had no idea who they were. Jerry knew who they were and was actually wanting us to go over there. We end up going over there and they talked to us for like an hour about themselves. They told us how they were moving to Alaska and how that's where they were originally from. They told us the craziest stories! So to sum up the story, I'm moving to Alaska with Jerry sometime in the future hahaha. Also i somewhat held a baby which is against the rules, but she was so cute and kept hugging my leg. It as really funny i kind of just had her stand on my lap, because they cant sit on your lap but doesn't say anything about standing hahaha. Im sorry that this email was so long, but im doing great and working hard! I want you all to know how much I love you and appreciate all of your prayers and for all of your emails. I pray for all of you everyday and hope everything is going great! 

Much love,

Elder Taeoalii

Rough Week

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and support this past week.  We have all felt them and are very grateful!  Here's a little log of what's been happening the last two weeks....

So, in his last letter, he got a migraine on Sunday and felt pretty crummy.  Well, it didn't go away.  I got a text on Wednesday, the 7th, from Jerry, (that really nice guy from Moses' ward) that said they were at urgent care.  Moses got a shot in his rear to help with the headache and nausea (Toradol and Zofran).  He had been puking a bunch and was unable to work.    

Then, Thursday, the 8th, he texted he was still not well.  Friday, the 9th, Faith texted Jerry to see how Moses was feeling and he said he was doing much better that day.  Then, Saturday, the 10th, I got a text that they were back at the Dr. with another headache that was worse than the last one.  At this point, Jerry was wondering if it might be something with his apartment building that may be a trigger and said he doesn't seem to have them when he's out and away from there.  The update from that visit is that he was dehydrated and received IV fluids.  Saturday, I got a text that he was feeling much better with this picture of him camping out at Jerry's with his friend, Ms. Kitty.

Next text was Sunday, the 11th, that he's up and down.  Fine at church in the morning, another headache in the evening.  Jerry said that every test they did came back good.  Nothing at all they can find to cause the problem.  They ran blood tests of everything.  Checked for Flu A and B, Mononucleosis, Streptococcus, and a CT scan of his head.  Everything looks normal.  Our family and friends fasted for Moses and so did Jerry and his family.  

On Monday, the 12th, Moses and I conversed back and forth in email a little.  He was pretty miserable.  He had been working with the mission nurse and was pretty frustrated with the whole situation, because he felt like he was wasting so much of the Lord's time. It was a hard thing to hear and not be able to do anything about it.  As a mom, I want to fix it!!  However, on my end, I have felt much peace through this adventure.  I think of him constantly and pray for him constantly, but have a peace about the situation that calms my heart and I know he will be ok.  This kid.  He is incredible.  He has been through hard things before and I don't know why these things keep happening to him, but he comes out stronger in the end.  I was able to converse with him along these lines and reassure him that he will not feel like this forever, that he will get better, and that incredible things are awaiting him.  

I got a call from Jerry on Tuesday, the 13th.  My heart was racing.  I wasn't sure what he was calling to report.  It was a great visit and his accent is darling.  He wanted to let me know how amazing Moses is and that things look like they are turning around.  He still felt yucky but he was able to put in a full days work.  Phew!!!  Next, I saw this photo Jerry posted on Facebook on Thursday, the 15th.

Looks pretty good to me!!

Next text from Jerry was yesterday morning, Saturday, September 17 (Jeremy's birthday) that said, "Just wanted to update you.  Moses is doing 100% better!! He's back to work and he's not down anymore!"

Then, I got the photo below yesterday afternoon from Jerry with the message, "I met up with the Elders for lunch"

So, hopefully he is in the clear!!  I can't wait to hear from him tomorrow!!

I did hear from several family and friends with great suggestions.  I thank you all for your support.  We sent him a magnesium supplement through Amazon called Migravent.  Jerry was going to get him a really nice water bottle because Moses' aunt, Adrienne, had a great thought.  She travels all over the country and feels that in humid climates you don't feel thirsty like you do in the dry climates like Utah and perhaps, even though he thinks he is drinking enough, maybe he really isn't because the humidity changes how you feel in the heat.  Also, he is keeping a log of sorts to see if he can identify any triggers to hopefully prevent this yucky spiral moving forward.  So, all in all, this is an adventure for the books and can't wait to see what comes from this refining process.

  

Prayers for Moses

Hello Everyone!

This is Kelly, Moses' mom.  He was not able to write a group email today.  He and I conversed a little about his health and that was it.  I'm sorry.  Hopefully we will have some positive news next Monday.  As for now, he is still not doing very well.  We ask for continued prayers, specifically that the migraine triggers can be found and taken care of so he can get back on his feet and that he can stay positive through this adventure.

xoxox!!!

Two Months!

This week has been a crazy week that's for sure. On Tuesday we were
watching just a video about some of the pioneers and I had the spirit
hit me so strong about me, that I needed to let it go. As soon as I
felt it I just started balling my eyes out. I could barely control
myself at all. I told Elder Ashcraft, and he gave me a blessing. After
the blessing the light that came to me was unbelievable I literally
felt like I was being wrapped up in Christs arms. The pains and the
sorrows that I have felt and the anger and resentment towards
football, myself, and God that I have felt for 2 years was gone
instantly. I realized how much my anger from my knee was holding me
back. I feel as if a 1,000 pound weight has been lifted off my
shoulders. I'm so grateful to God and Jesus. I know this weight will
never come back to me. For the first time in my life, I am grateful
for the trial of my knee. We never need fear that what we are going
through is to much for us. God always provides for his children. The
question we need to ask is do I have enough faith to endure? I'm so
grateful for my mission. I have realized that if I wasn't on my
mission, I probably wouldn't have figured this out for years. What an
amazing blessing that the gospel is in my life.

Wednesday was awesome we had our new missionary training. It was 5
hours long, and I actually stayed awake the whole time haha. It was
super spiritual and I learned so much. My biggest take away from it is
how much God actually trusts me. They talked about how on average each
area has about 46,000 people. That means that God has trusted me with
that many people's souls. I think it's so humbling and powerful to see
how much responsibility I have as a missionary. It made me feel so
inadequate haha. The second biggest thing I learned is how to baptize
and how to have success on my mission. Everything stems from faith. Do
I have enough faith to baptize? Do I trust God enough to lead me to
people who are ready for the gospel? You can be the most talented
missionary in the world but without faith you're not going to do
anything. I've really been working at having enough faith and I hope I
have enough faith.

Thursday and Friday were really hard for me. After the spiritual highs
of the last two days I thought for sure we were going to start seeing
huge miracles happen, but we didn't. They were the same as usual
almost nothing happened at all. I was so frustrated and so was Elder
Ashcraft, we couldn't figure out at all why nothing was happening. We
talked about it for a long time and we both thought we were working
hard and that we had enough faith so we couldn't understand why
nothing was happening. Then something from the Ricciardi letter came
to my mind,
The mission experience is to do what you are told, when you are told, to
go where you are asked, and know that the blessing comes from enduring
what I ask of you.  This is not about you; it is about opening your
mouth at all times in all places.  Doing my will without thought to
the end result or consequence… this is what serving a mission is.
This helped me out so much and was so powerful to me.

Saturday was so much fun. The whole morning we got to put up hay. It
was so fun I felt like a farmer haha. The place that we were at was a
straight farm. There were animals everywhere. It was really cool
because the guy we did it for has cancer and could barely walk at all,
it's awesome how much we can help people's lives out here! Later that
day we also got to talk to this guy from the military. He was so cool!
He expressed how cool it was that we give up everything and come out
here for two years. He said he looked up to us so much for doing that,
and we are going to meet with him on Wednesday so I'm excited for
that!

Sunday was horrible. Church went really well and was spiritual, but
after lunch I felt so sick. We went to visit someone in the hospital
and as soon as we left I started throwing up. I got the worst migraine
and I laid in bed for the rest of the day. Being sick on the mission I
think has been the worst experience so far. I felt so stupid, I felt
like I was wasting the lords time. So ya yesterday was really tough!
I'm loving it though I can't believe I've been out for 2 months now
it's crazy how fast time flies out here! Love
And miss you all!

Much love,
Elder Taeoalii