Hello everyone!! I hope that all is well where ever you may be. Today has been quite exciting! We received a call last night that we would be getting a new missionary today! We just got back from picking up Elder Lovell there from the mission home. He is from Las Vegas, it will be great to have a tri-panionship for the next few weeks, he is going to be a great addition to the work.
I am filled with excitement as I write to you today, my love for this work seems to expand almost everyday! This past week was simply miraculous! So many lives are beginning to change from this great gospel and its glad message. Often we set plans in our lives that we think should work out, but those aren’t always the Lord's plans. I have seen that as we rely on the Lord through this life, he will show us the way. He will often make our plans happen, but through means that we didn’t understand or think of before.
Tuesday night we had the baptism of Greg! It was just amazing. As he and I walked out of the font I asked him how he felt and he said, “I feel different. I just feel like a huge burden has left me!” He smiled all the week long. Everyday we called and asked him after he was doing following his baptism and he always replies, “I am doing great!” Greg is someone I look up to so dearly. He has done so much in his life to get his family on the right track. His daughter Ashley attended the baptism and said that as she watched her father come out of the water, “Something overwhelmed me. A feeling that I have never felt before, I want that in my life.” Ashley and her son are both on date to be baptized. Greg continues to show us new people to teach quite often. His friend Dwayne came to his baptism on Tuesday and was changed forever. He committed to stop smoking and is working towards being baptized next month. Greg continutes to tell us we need to start bringing more people to the church! It's great to see the change that has come upon him since accepting Christ in his life.
We had another miracle baptism. Kayleigh, who also came to Greg's baptism, decided that she wanted to be baptized on Saturday! Her baptism on Saturday was something I will never forget. My dear friends and family, the gospel of Jesus Christ has an ability to change the lives of people, it's something that is tangible and real. Why wouldn’t we all run from person to person and tell them of this message? That God has reached down in love and again called a Prophet to restore the fullness of His gospel again to the earth! And because he loves us He knew there would be confusion, so He gave us the Book of Mormon, the physical evidence that we can literally hold in our own hands, and seek Heaven's help to know of its truthfulness. The Church of Jesus Christ is again on the earth and is sweeping the earth with joy. It was powerful to see Kayleigh’s smile as she was confirmed on Sunday! Her appearance just beams with joy. .
There was another great miracle that I wish to end with today. His name is Douglas. We knocked into him a few weeks back soon after he had arrived here from Kenya! He is a very shy man and dearly misses his wife and young children that are back home. In Kenya he had a stroke, and lay sick in bed in a rundown hospital in Kenya for sometime. He was finally given the opportunity to come to the United States where he could have his open-heart surgery! He received the treatment that saved his life! He now has recovered and is looking for a job here in Federal Way. Friday we went to teach him and could tell that he seemed very down. As we ended the lesson, I just knew something wasn’t right. So I looked at him and asked what was wrong. He said that he hadn’t heard from his wife in weeks and that he finally talked to her that morning and the conversation didn’t go well. He humbly just said, “I miss them, and I miss my kids. I hope everything is alright.” We felt prompted to offer him a priesthood blessing. He gladly accepted. After the blessing, he looked up at us with the biggest smile. He said, “I have never felt that before, I feel complete and total peace.” I will never forget leaving his home and feeling the joy from his countenance. Saturday night he came to the baptism of Kayleigh. After the service ended I walked towards him and could just see his excitement. He said, “I feel like I'm home. I have always been looking for this. I will come here every Sunday. I want to be baptized!” We took him on a tour of the church and sat in awe as he slowly looked at every portion of the church. Just happily looking at everything and enjoying every minute of it. His spirit is so strong, it's something I will never forget! The first thing he asked after we showed him a picture of the Book of Mormon on a pamphlet, he pointed to it and then asked “When can I get one of these?” We gave him one that night in Swahili and asked last night about how his reading was coming. He said, “I want to read it all day. I didn’t leave my room very much the last two days. It’s the word of God! I will read it when I get home!” Douglas is literally enveloped by the gospel! We haven’t been able to communicate the best, he has literally only been influenced by a priesthood blessing, the church building, and the Book of Mormon. What more evidence need have we of the truthfulness? The truthfulness beams from the face of this Kenyan man as he happily asks each time, can we meet tomorrow? His youthfulness and joy for the gospel has changed me.
It's amazing to see the world and its attacks on Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. For if those two things are discredited, the whole church goes along with it. The world is filled with evil, and lies about both subjects. Just as Christ was mocked, and lies were spread of Him, the same has happened today when Christ has restored His church to the earth today. I humbly testify that the Lord has revealed the truthfulness of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. That answer came in a powerful way, one that I will never be able to deny. For each of us in search for truth, or greater knowledge, the Lord stands readily waiting to guide us. Although the answers don’t always come at once, if we truly intend to follow the answers we receive to our fullest, they do come! It’s a joy to know that God has again called a man to the earth, to be his Voice in troubled times. God is a God of miracles, His power and glory is spreading the earth. I love this Gospel. I am humbled by it daily. The Book of Mormon contains many precious and simple truths that can guide us safely home. Tears come to my eyes each time I read the precious words of the Book of Mormon, those prophets truly wrote it for our day! For their future generations to guide them to Christ. We must never take lightly the things we have been given for they truly contain the words of life.
I love you all. I testify that God lives and that Christ suffered for each of us! Don’t despair, for the gospel of Jesus Christ is again on the earth. Seeing Kayleigh, Greg, and Karleanne confirmed on Sunday filled my soul with inexpressible joy. I wish the whole earth could see the joy that comes from the truths restored to the earth today!
Love,
Elder Aiken
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