Transfer mix-up!

     Good Morning Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Easter!  We had an amazing week!  The weather has been great.  I sent a picture from attending the Stake Presidents home during the amazing weather!

     I forgot to explain the bike crash last week! Two Mondays ago I got new brake pads.  But for a few days after we didn’t use the bikes because we spent most of the time in the Issaquah first ward!  On Friday we headed out to Tiger Mountain and decided to bike down a dirt road to hit a few houses.  And so I realized there was a huge pot hole and slammed on my brakes because my old brakes were horrible! So totally forgetting I had brand new brakes, my face flew straight into the dirt road!  I flew completely end over end. That was a great experience! One I will always treasure! 
     So there was a big mix up at transfers.  Elder Berry and I are now covering the Issaquah first!  I am very excited.  I will surely miss the Tiger Mountain ward.  It was such an amazing place to serve.  I can't wait to come back and visit them, they blessed my life more than they can know!  
     This week was just great.  Natalie and Josh are scheduled to baptized this upcoming weekend.  I am so excited, I have come to love this family so much!  This week she is very sick so we hope and pray that things get better!  
     There was an amazing experience that happened on Friday!  There was a man named Rob that we taught a few months back but has had legal troubles.  We've struggled staying in contact with him.  For weeks I have been praying to find him again so we can continue teaching him!  We are on bikes now, so on Friday we had biked up this huge hill to begin tracting.  But after awhile there it didn’t feel right! We began to pray to know where we should be and I just kept feeling “Look at your planner!” I opened up my planner and Rob's name stood out in 1000 point font!  We biked down to his home and knocked on his door and no answer!! As we got back on our bikes and put our helmets on a taxi pulled up. I was just like no way.  And out walks Rob!!  We were all so excited to see each other!  Rob is back on date for May 21^st and I am so happy for him!  His life was changing so dramatically when he began to learn about the gospel. 
     I know with all of my heart that the Holy Ghost can speak to us.  It’s the greatest gift that we can be given in this life and is the great blessing of this church!  The priesthood power has been restored to the earth so we can be given the Holy Ghost as a constant companion at baptism!  I love you all and hope you have had a great Easter!  We spent ours with the Rennies!  A family that I have come to love with all of my heart.  Easter was a special one for me.  The spirit of the Lord was so strong and so close.  Have a great week my dear friends.  Love, Elder Aiken.

Staying put - companion #4!

Last day with Elder Lindeman

    Good Morning!!!  Well I have killed another companion off! Elder Lindman has been transferred!  I will miss him so much!  I have had the best companions and he is just amazing!  He will do great things for the mission! 

Companion #4 - Elder Berry

  

   Elder Berry is my new companion! From Las Vegas!  He is such a great Elder.  He was actually Elder Lindeman's MTC companion!  This will be another blessed transfer!  We are now covering the Tiger Mountain ward only.  The Issaquah first ward has its own elders now!  I will truly miss that ward and area.  I grew to love our investigators so much!  

    This past week has been amazing! (Other than crashing my bike!)  Words can't describe!  It felt as though everything that I have been working for the past transfer has all wrapped up.  After the many struggles and hard work we were able to leave that area with a full heart.  They have three people that are on date and a few more to come!  I will truly miss serving there!  Natalie and Josh have my heart! The gospel was blessing their lives so richly!!  Natalie and Josh attended their first service last week. We met this week and we asked Josh about his class.  He named every thing they talked about and just loved it!  He said “I felt warm inside there, I felt comforted!” It was the most humbling thing to talk to a 10 year old so in tune with the spirit to feel the difference between that building and any other. 

    We had six investigators at church this Sunday! Three in each ward!  The Lord sent down his richest blessings.  Dallas and Kam came in the Tiger Mountain ward - people I taught my first week here.  And we just barely got back in.  They came to the ward party on Saturday night and just loved it!!!  Dallas tied in the Oreo eating contest.  Haha it was so funny!  The spirit in our lives this week was very touching!  So many people began to progress and move forward with the gospel!  Truly amazing!  I learned much this past week.  I learned a lot about the heavenly virtue of patience:  “To accept the Lord's will and timing.” 

    Yesterday we ran into yet another man struggling without the knowledge of life after this one.  As we walked down the driveway I saw an older man working on his old 1940’s dodge pickup.  He had some beautiful antique cars that I was just amazed by.  After a bit of chatting about his cars I asked him about religion.  As tears began to form in his eyes he said, “That’s not for me, never has been.  Not since I had my son.  We just lost him last month, he was handicapped and struggled for 40 years.  If that’s part of the plan I want none of it.”  My heart sank.  To see a loving father struggle so deeply.  He said he doesn’t know where his son is but he hopes that he is where he wants to be.  As we walked back down the driveway my mind began thinking for the next hour or so about life, and what I know it to be.  How has this life blessed me?  And why am I here?  God has an amazing plan.  A plan that does, at times, involve suffering and pains, if not for us, watching those around us suffer.  I know that God does live and that His plan is for us to grow and become better.  So that we can enjoy the richest blessing we can receive, returning to live in His presence.  We hope and pray that our testimonies touched that man!  I know that God lives and loves us all!  If we will just lean on him. HAPPY EASTER! 

Love, Elder Aiken.

(Elder Lindeman's letter)


Well... i got transferred again.  Transfer calls came on Sunday night. we were both positive Elder Aiken was leaving. We knew he was. He has been in his first area for 6 months. He started saying goodbye to people in the ward cause he thought he was leaving. Elder Aiken and i worked really really hard together. the last week we were together we found a couple new investigators, one of which looked like a bishop. We got Natalie, Josh, and Kim on date for baptism. It was like we had been suffering for 5 weeks and then God blessed us with miracles. that last week things picked up and we were blessed for our hard work and sacrifice, and then i got transferred before i saw the end result of our labors.

 My last day with Elder Aiken we spent 9 Hours tracting. 4 of them were on bike on the muddy, gravel, mountainous roads of Tiger Mountain. It was a fun experience. :)  elder Aiken was joking that we could take on lance.

This transfer really hurt me. i still really can't believe i have been transferred. after six weeks you finally start to get to know people in the ward, and you begin to love your investigators, and then your ripped away from it... Oh well, that's my sad story. I'M Done Feeling Sorry For Myself.

It's "Bump Week"!

     Good Morning Everyone!!!!  I can't believe it's "bump week" - or my 6-month mark!  Time has gone by so fast.  Just a quick side note. The sun came out twice this week! The first time in three weeks that we have seen the sun! What a great sight this has been.  (Which gave me the chance to do what I love - mow a lawn!!!)

     The experiences of a mission are truly wonderful.  So full of things that I will never forget.  I am sad that this is already the last week of this transfer!  It feels like walking on an escalator backwards! I can never seem to catch up, time is always slipping by. 
     Yesterday Natalie and her two boys came to church.  After a long week it was so great to look over and see Natalie enjoying the speakers and coloring on paper with brandon ( He is 4). They are such an amazing family who I have come to love so much. The gospel just changes people.  It really does.  A new light comes into their lives!  It’s the greatest testimony that THIS CHURCH IS TRUE!!  Natalie and the boys love church!  Haha Brandon was a bit rambunxious but when we went to pick him up from his class, boy did he come out folding those arms!  A great little sunbeam now!!  
     Earlier in the week we had another experience that really touched my heart.  We went to go set up an appointment with a lady that we haven't taught for awhile.  As we were walking up to her door we saw a lady standing on the curb with luggage next to her.  So we hurried over there to talk to her!  We asked why she was waiting here for a ride, and she said, "I don’t know I just told my friend to meet me here"! As we talked to this sweet lady she explained that she was waiting to get a ride to go and visit her son across the pass. We talked for a brief minute and asked if we could share a message about families when she gets back.  And she said what about families?  “We just want to share a message about where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going!”  She began to cry and said “I have lost two dear friends recently.  My friend died in front of me and I tried to revive him but he passed on.”  She said, “do you know where they are.”  She began to cry and said, “No.”  I am not sure if we will ever see her again.  But I was touched deeply.  
     Many times in my mission I have met people who have a loss of hope.  Either from their mistakes, the shape of the world, or because of the mistakes of others.  The gospel is the light that we all need in our lives.  The gospel is hope!  Oh how much the world needs of it.  I am ever so grateful for the chance that I have been given to spread hope to the world! That God does live and Jesus is the Christ!  He died for our sins and overcame death so that we can be together forever, as FAMILIES.  I love this Church with all of my heart and I love seeing the light that can come into people's lives as they learn more!  I am so grateful that the priesthood power is on the earth today!  I just wish everyone knew that.  With Easter around the corner, I am so grateful for my Savior!  I love you all more than you know - Elder Aiken.

Refiners Fire

     This has been such a great week in my mission. The spirit of General Conference was something I will never forget. The week prior to this was a bit trying. We were going through a “refiners fire.” Going through a refining time is hard while you are going through it. But it's amazing to see how much you grow when you come out on the other side isn't it? 
     I loved Elder Christofferson's talk when he talked about being trimmed and cut down.  It’s the most true statement in the world, God truly does know who he wants us to become.  We have to go through trials to be able to grow.  
    We went through a tough week to be able to experience the joys of this week!  This week was a true blessing from heaven. We were able to find a new investigator in each ward and begin re-teaching a few others!  One lady Lora, we have been trying to get ahold of for weeks. We were planning on giving up.  On Friday we were praying where we should go and we felt strongly to go knock on her door. So we drove down there and we knock on her door and she answers “Come in!”  It was such a miracle!  There wasn’t another male in the house so we asked if we could come right back and bring a member!  A member was there within five minutes which was another miracle because it was in the afternoon!  As we taught she said she had previously been to church activities from friends in Arizona, but was nervous because all Mormon families seemed perfect!  Very far from the truth.  We are all far from perfect!!  She was amazed that there was a prophet on the earth she said "there is not a more needed time for a prophet!"  It was an amazing lesson.   This week was one of many miracles and a week I will always be thankful to the Lord for! 
    I love serving here in this wonderful mission!  Conference was simplying amazing.  I was most touch by the talks on charity!  It is my hope that we can all reach out a little more to those around us. We are truly blessed beyond measure, our cups are overflowing and the world needs us.  There are many less fortunate than us!  I love you all so much and hope you truly have a great week!!!  Love, Elder Aiken.