Monday, July 30, 2012

Miracles never cease!

     Hello everyone!!!! This was just simply a miraculous and life changing week! I have felt the power of God like never before in my life. This new calling has been daunting at times, but I have come to know with an unshakeable understanding that Jesus is the Christ! He is the rock and center of my life. In all things He has never failed me. When hell seems to beat upon me, the strength and reassurance of my Savior has allowed me stand tall! Our Savior Jesus Christ lives! His power is real, and a tangeable thing. I have come to love Him with all of my soul! I will serve Him all of my life. For in Him do I grow, and have been molded into the man that God needs me to be! I love this new calling, I have grown so much in such a short time! I have learned the importance of serving God with all of your heart, might, mind and strength! This is the greatest work of all!
     Elder Brown is an amazing missionary! I have loved this past week serving with him! This work is much different here. It's like finding a needle in a haystack! I am used to running from door to door and car to car talking with everyone about the Gospel! Right now, we have to find through members and keep an eye on new people coming in off of the boat! We seek revelation daily in where we can go to find a home with Marshalese families. This is a wonderful adventure!

     My dear Brothers and Sisters, I wish to share two experiences in which I literally felt the power of God. On Thursday night Elder Brown and I went on exchanges with the Renton Zone Leaders! When I got in the car, Elder Williamson and I bowed our head and asked God that he would lead us to someone that night whom we could baptize! We went to an investigator that had showed up in their ward on Sunday! We had such a powerful lesson with him, and the spirit filled my soul. He committed to be baptized that very night! We hurried and ran around town preparing the ward for the baptism! The baptism was one of the most amazing scenes of my life. He came skipping from the font after he was baptized, with a smile as big as I had ever seen! He just smiled and said, "I feel so clean, and so good!" He is a wonderful man from Africa.   
     That night as we ran to the car following the baptism, my mind was filled with the scripture from Alma. "Now I say unto you that ye must, repent and be born again; for the spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness." And then He goes on to urge us, "Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin..." As I looked at that man during his service, I couldn't help but smile! This man did not fear giving up his sins! He wanted to be born again! I love our God, and Father in Heaven! For His plan is truly the plan of happiness! I testify that through following in His footsteps that have been layed before us, eternal happiness will flow! We must choose, but if we choose to fear not and lay aside every sin, we will be on that straight and narrow path!  We are in a fight against sin. Our loving Father in Heaven has given us every tool to ensure that we can win that battle!  I know that God and Christ live! Their work is a work of miracles! 
     Friday as Elder Brown and I got back together, we again bowed our head and asked that God would lead us to someone we could baptize that night! We went to a home of a Marshallese woman named Oberin! She had thought she was a member all along and had been to church for years! She was never baptized! With a smile on her face she agreed to being baptized that night! IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL MOMENT! She smiled from ear to ear all the night long. I yearn for these moments to continue on forever. There is no greater joy than seeing a soul repent of their sins, and covenant with God to serve Him! That joy is one that I will never forget!
      I just want you all to know that I love you. I love you for your goodness in this troubled world. I love you for your example amid raging temptations! Thank you for your example and your courage. In your examples have I grown forever! There is so much to love and enjoy from everyone around us! I love you alll. Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Aiken

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Called to serve the President!


     Hello my dear friends and family!! I hope that you have had wonderful week and that all is well! This day has been humbling, and inspiring. I await earnestly the tasks ahead. I have received the call to serve as an Assistant to the President. I will be serving in the Auburn Zone, with Elder Brown! He is an amazing missionary. We will be serving in the Marshallese Branch, each meeting will be held in Marshalese so I will be striving to understand and speak the language better! I am saddened to leave Lakota Creek, I don't know that I have ever come to love a people as quickly as I did them. I will dearly miss the many families preparing to be baptized in the coming week! Those people consume my heart.
     Today I must again be brief and for that I apologize! We have been at the airport much of the day, and then training the new missionaries that have just arrived to the mission. We now have to hurry and pack my apartment and move my things in the remaining hour! I love the Lord. I yearn to serve Him with all my soul. Through Him will my soul be redeemed at the last day. Through Him have I come to find myself. This gospel is the light of my life. I love this work, I love it with every fiber of my soul. The world is waiting! Earnestly waiting the gospel of Jesus Christ! It is the only way to fill the voids that come from this troubled world. THIS IS THE TRUTH! This is the way home! Oh how I love to spread this great gospel and serve my Lord and Master Jesus Christ! I love you all! Have a great week!  And my love goes out to my brother Tanner who leaves for the MTC tomorrow!

Love,
Elder Aiken

Monday, July 16, 2012

What the world needs now...



     Good morning to all! I hope that all is well and that God is with you! I will be short in writing today. I am taking this emailing hour to spend time emailing my amazing brother Tanner before he leaves for his mission on Tuesday! I won't be able to talk with him in such a way for quite some time. 
     This week has been powerful and so inspiring. I have learned that we must love without end. “Charity is the greatest of all”, as Moroni tells us and the only thing that will never fail! Often times we have to deal with difficult people and difficult situations, but if we have charity, our love for them will never fail. We will look past human frailties, and short comings and truly love without end. Our Savior never questioned the intentions of others, or judged them in any way. He just loved. Served and loved. If we could all become like our Savior and love those around us, the world would blossom. Children would rise to their earthly callings, marriages would become a light in the home, and families would be eternally united.
     This week we received an inspiring call from Greg, who was baptized last month.  He left us this voicemail saying, “Hey Elders, I am out preaching the gospel. A neighbor just moved in across the street! He came and asked for my hammer. So I went and offered to help him with what he needed. As we were talking I asked if he had a church in the area yet, and he told me no. So I told him I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that he could ride with me and my family to church on Sunday! Can we cancel our appointment tomorrow, and instead just go teach him?” That we did! We taught Jay on Saturday. The most humble man! He came to church on Sunday, and will be baptized in August. I will never forget the smile on his face as he entered the chapel. I don’t know that he had ever had someone care for him the way Greg and His family have! Love is a great power  that can change the world.
     I love you all! I love serving the Lord. There were 11 investigators that came to sacrament meeting. Truly humbling and amazing. I know the Lord is at the head of this work! He is the power in the Universe that emulates complete and endless love. If only we can catch a bit of that love and be willing to look past the weaknesses of the world and uplift those around us. Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Aiken

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

I will go and do...


     Good Morning my dear friends and family! GOD IS A GOD OF MIRACLES!!! I am just overwhelmed by the past week and the miracles that have taken place. God is working miracles all around us each and everyday. 
     This past week I read the story of Nephi and obtaining the plates of Brass in the Book of Mormon! This is my favorite story of faith in all of the Book of Mormon! I wish to recall this story briefly before I share some things from the past week. Lehi a Prophet and the father of Laman, Lemuel, and Nephi, receives revelation from the Lord that they must return and obtain the plates! I can only imagine this experience. They have just traveled through the wilderness for some time, without any google map or gps to show them where they are going, and no hotel to rest in. They must have been exhausted at this point. Then the Lord comes to them and tells them they need to return and go get the plates. This they did. Immediately, Laman and Lemuel begin to murmur saying that “this is a hard thing” that the Lord had commanded them to do. Nephi’s response was much different! “I WILL GO AND DO THE THINGS WHICH THE LORD HAS COMMANDED…” Their first attempt doesn’t go very well as Laban who has the plates threatens to kill them and run them off.  This would have been the moment that many of us would have turned back, but Nephi knew the Lord would fulfill His promise. Their second attempt, the Lord tells them to go and retrieve their gold and silver that had been abandoned in their home when they had left for the promised land. This too ends in failure with Laban taking their possessions and again running them off! Nephi still has the faith to “go and do” for a third time! He said that he “went not knowing before hand what he should do” yet he had faith that the Lord would lead them. My dear brothers and sisters, what happens next is the lesson that we must remember all of our lives. When Nephi arrives to get the plates, Laban is found drunken and on the ground. He didn’t know what would happen! But he knew the Lord would prepare the way to obtain the plates! The Lord is the Master, the Leader of our lives! This experience fills Nephi with the faith to “go and do” the rest of his life! While here in life there will be many things that the Lord asks us to do that might not make much sense! We must not question or falter but go forward in faith to fulfill the commandments of the Lord with the reassurance that He will prepare a way. I testify in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that He NEVER fails on His promises. He will always prepare a way. In these moments when we humbly rely on the Lord we become teachable. When we are teachable, we are able to gain charity!  When we gain the love of God, we can conquer all.



     This weekend we felt stongly that the Lord had someone for us to baptize. We had prayed for the Lord's help in finding this person! Soon Jaylin was brought to our mind. On Tuesday we had a lesson with him! He said “I am ready to be baptized!” We worked with him throughout the week and Sunday morning right before church we had a miracle baptism! Jaylin's baptism was incredible. He was confirmed and given the Gift of the Holy Ghost immediately following in sacrament meeting! Then another miracle happened. His grandmother, the wife of Greg who was baptized a few weeks back, has been strongly progressing! She comes to church each Sunday but has said several times that she will get baptized in a few months at the earliest. In the middle of sacrament she whispered in Greg's ear, “Will you be the one that baptizes me!?” She will be baptized very soon! God is a God of miracles and is preparing the way for His children to receive the fullness of the gospel! His mother Ashley will be baptized in the coming weeks as well. This is a marvelous work.
     Thursday afternoon we were driving to our apartment when we saw on the side of a road a red mustang that had its lights flashings. We flipped around and ran up to her and asked if she needed help! She sure did, so we pushed the car up to a turn off where she could be free from the traffic. Soon a friend arrived with gas! As we were leaving, we asked if we could come share a powerful message of God with her! She obliged and we returned the next day to teach her! Well, as she invited us in the next day, she made it clear that she had found a home church and was plenty happy there but agreed to listen! As we began to teach, the spirit filled the room and power filled our souls! She said “I have prayed for months to feel the spirit with this power. It finally has come! This must be true!” She then said, “Let me tell you an interesting story. I moved here three days ago from an apt. complex down the street. I left one thing in the apartment, a Book of Mormon on top of the fridge. Three days later that Book comes walking back into my house!” This miracle is the hand of God and something I will never forget. Although we don’t understand God's plan at times, He is working and there is nothing to fear! Although that day seemed like a hopeless cause, we had no idea of the miracle that was in store.


     I wish to share one more miracle, a story of a woman named Dorothy. She is the sweetest grandma I have ever met. We met her earlier in the week and on Saturday Elder Basilius and I went to teach her. As we sat down my eyes began to be filled with tears, I had never felt such a love for someone so quickly. We briefly taught of God's love for her and His plan for her to be happy here in this life. We asked her what she was searching for most in her life, and she said “Freedom. I haven’t been close to the Lord since 1962. I don’t feel free, I feel burdens on my heart that I want to leave! I want my life to begin anew.” The lesson was the most inspiring moment I have had in some time! Dorothy, our dear sister, smiled with joy and we asked her what it would mean for her to feel free from sin! She didn’t know if it was really possible but said she felt she had found her way! I testify that there is a freedom! A freedom from when we fall short. A peace that can come in this troubled world and it is through the Atonement of Christ, our Savior!
     This week was truly miraculous! I wish to share more but time is ending! I know that God lives! I know that He leads and guides our lives. Don’t lose faith! Pray for God to help your unbelief. I wish to end by sharing a story that we heard of recently from Wilford Woodruff.
     “When we were sent to England, we were sent by revelation. I went into the Staffordshire potteries with Brother Alfred Cordon. We were doing a splen-did work, baptizing almost every night, and I thought it was the finest mission I ever was on. I went one evening to fill an appointment in the Town Hall, at the town of Hanley. There was a very large congregation, and I had appointments out for two or three weeks in that town and adjacent villages. As I went to take my seat the Spirit of the Lord came upon me and said to me, ‘This is the last meeting you will hold with this people for many days.’ I was surprised, because I did not know, of course what the Lord wanted me to do. I told the assembly when I rose, ‘This is the last meeting I shall hold with you for many days.’ They asked me after meeting where I was going. I told them I did not know. I went before the Lord in my closet and asked him where he wished me to go, and all the answer I could get was to go to the South. I got into a stage and rode eighty miles south, as I was led by the Spirit of the Lord. The first man's house I stopped at was John Benbow's in Herefordshire. In half an hour after I entered the house I knew exactly why the Lord had sent me. There was a people there who had been praying for the ancient order of things. They were waiting for the gospel as it was taught by Christ and his apostles. The consequence was, for the first 30 days after I got there I baptized 600 of those people. In eight month's labor in that country I brought eighteen hundred into the Church. Why? Because there was a people prepared for the gospel, and the Lord sent me there to do that work.”
     This story is story of miracles! That night in the town of Hanley, many souls were ready to accept baptism! But the Lord came to him and told him to go another way! Let's all learn to rely on the Lord and let him be the light in our lives. As we lives our lives in a pure way, to keep our bodies and “temples” clean, the Lord will guide us! He will guide us in each footstep. Let Him be your guide! I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Aiken

Monday, July 2, 2012

So much to do...so little time!



     GOOOOOD AFTERNOON MY DEAR FRIENDS AND FAMILY! I hope all is well! I have to be a bit brief today, we are figuring out a new reporting system to our Mission President!  
     This past week has been touching and awakening. I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! HE IS RISEN, HE LIVES AND LOVES US ALL! His power is overwhelming, and His love can change the night to day! 
     Greg, our recent convert, held his first “bible study” this past week! It was just amazing to see his smile, and excitement in telling others of this great gospel! His grandson Jaylin came up to us afterwards and said, “so when is it my turn to get baptized?” He is going to get baptized next weekend! Jaylin's mother Ashley will be baptized the weekend after that! What a miracle!  
     Douglas is doing amazing! We called him a few days ago and he said that he spent two hours reading the Book of Mormon! He is almost halfway through the Book. In his broken English he says that it is the only way that he can feel “comfortable”! I have a firm, and deep testimony that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. For there isn’t another book in the world that has given me more peace and direction! I LOVE YOU ALL!! God is a God of miracles! He lives.
     Happy 4th of July!

Love,
Elder Aiken