The Best Two Years of My Life

May 19th

Dear Family and Friends,

It feels incredibly bitter-sweet to write this email. It's hard to put into words the things I feel right now. I love my mission, more than I ever thought possible. 

First off, I would like to thank all those who supported me for these two years. I know without this support, I would have struggled a lot more than I did. I can't tell you how many times I was struggling in my mission, and a friendly email or unexpected card lifted my spirits to keep me going. Most of all, I felt your prayers. Believe me, I felt your prayers. Thank you family for supporting me and loving me on this grand adventure. There was many times that your example kept me working hard and pushing through. 

Second off, I would like to thank all the wonderful saints in Hawaii. One thing I learned is that paradise is less of where you are, and more of WHO you surround yourself with. This place is amazing, simply because the people here are amazing. I'm afraid to go home, because my heart resides here. 

Now these past two years have been an incredible whirlwind. I wish everyone could experience what a mission is like, simply so they could see what life changing effect is has on you. I have experienced things I never thought I would ever experience. Never in my wildest dreams. It's been the best of times, and it's been the worst of times. Never have I felt so loved, and never have I felt so alone. A mission is a strange experience

It is a trial and a test. This poem that I did not write practically sums it up: 
A mission throws at you the worst
Yet, teaches you the best.
I've never been so happy,
I've never been so depressed.
I've never felt so forsaken,
I've never felt so blessed.
I've never been so confused,
Things have never been so clear.
I've never felt my Heavenly Father so distant,
He's never been so near.
I've never been so discouraged,
I've never been so full of hope.
I feel I could go on for forever,
I think I've come to the end of my rope.
I've never had it quite so easy,
I've never had it quite so tough.
Things have never been so smooth,
Things have never been so rough.
I've never traveled through more valleys,
I've never ascended more peaks.
I've never met so many nice people.
I've never met so many freaks!
I've never had so many ups,
I've never had so many downs.
I've never worn so many smiles,
I've never had so many frowns.
I've never been so lonely,
I've never had so many friends.
BOY, I hope this is over soon,
GOSH, I hope this never ends.

WELCOME TO MY BEST TWO YEARS.

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

2 Timothy 4:7

I love you all, and we will see you soon!! 

Pau Hana. 

ALLLOOOHHAA!!!

Elder Gleave

May 11th

Dear family,

It was good to see you yesterday! I really loved seeing your beautiful faces and good to talk to TESS as a new member of the family!! 

This morning we woke up at 4:00am to go see the sunrise in Mauna Kea, then we drove to go do an Emu in Hawi, and just got back. Ergo, I'm exhausted. I think this week to save you all some time deciphering the gibberish my email would probably be, I will just send you all some pictures. 

Don't you think for a second though that me not sending a long email makes me seem like I don't like my mission. I just want to drop a quick note, that as I start my last week, I want everyone to know that there has been nothing so influencial in my life as a mission. This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, and I wouldnt give it up for the world. I love you all!

Elder Gleave

I made the head lei by the way!

May 4th

Hahaha I accidently sent that. I didnt mean for it to be THAT short. 

Well, today we did an Umu with our recent convert and all of the missionaries, so that took a while. And now we are going to go play some ping pong with some Tongans. 

This week was awesome. I am just trying to remain strong. I am excited what the Lord has in store for me the next few weeks. We finally got our investigator Kaneke to church, and it couldn't have gone better. We were laughing and joking around. I was so happy. When we were introducing visitors at church, he jumped off the chair and said, "I'm Kaneke, and I'm here to learn!" It was awesome. He is quickly becoming one of my best friends. He made church so much fun! 

We went over to our Samoan investigator's house and he taught us how to jam out on the keyboard. Man I am going to miss this place. 

Well, that's all for today. Love you all!

Elder Gleave

Week 97/98--T-Rex and Girl on the Beach

April 28, 2015

Hello Family! 

Your probably wondering about my title. That's good. I would be too.

On Wednesday, we were walking around, trying to see if people were home, and one of the members called us and told us in broken English that he has someone who wants to be baptized on Saturday and we need to come to the beach right now. A little suspicious, we went over to the beach he was at, and the member gets this blonde girl from off the beach. She comes over to us and says, "I'm not a Mormon, but I want to get baptized. Is that a problem?" Uhhh...no? But we quickly realized that she wanted to get baptized and stay in the Baptist Church, and was just looking for someone to baptize her. Well we told her that we should first probably teach her about our church. As we dove into the restoration, I quickly began to realize how religious she was. From first judgement, I thought there was no way that she took religion that seriously, and it was more of something she just wanted to do for fun. But she told us how she went to Egypt to know if the Bible was true, and how she wanted to give herself completely to God. The lesson actually turned out to be an incredibly spiritual lesson. We gave her a Book of Mormon, testified of its truthfulness, and committed her to read it. She told us later she was reading the Book, and although we didn't baptize her, or weren't able to meet with her again, I believe she will one day find out the truth. 

As for T-Rex, he's just a guy we met the other night walking around an apartment complex. I just like his name. He was joking with us that he starred in Jurassic Park. 

Things are going well. It doesn't really feel like I'm finishing my mission anytime soon. I just gave my last training of my mission, which is really weird. But it honestly just feels like I will be doing the same thing next month and the month after and the month after...

Please continue praying for Miracle May! Not only for me but for your families as well! Let's ALL of us make May an amazing month! I love you all, and will talk to you next week!

Love, 

Elder Gleave

1) Burning an Elder's Dallas Cowboys shirt and giving him a BroncosHello Family! 

Your probably wondering about my title. That's good. I would be too.

On Wednesday we were walking around, trying to see if people were home, and one of the members called us and told us in broken English that he has someone who wants to be baptized on Saturday and we need to come to the beach right now. A little suspicious, we went over to the beach he was at, and the member gets this blonde girl from off the beach. She comes over to us and says, "I'm not a Mormon, but I want to get baptized. Is that a problem?" Uhhh...no? But we quickly realized that she wanted to get baptized and stay in the Baptist church, and was just looking for someone to baptize her. Well we told her that we should first probably teach her about our church. As we dove into the Restoration, I quickly began to realize how religious she was. From first judgement, I thought there was no way that she took religion that seriously, and it was more of something she just wanted to do for fun. But she told us how she went to Egypt to know if the Bible was true, and how she wanted to give herself completely to God. The lesson actually turned out to be an incredibly Spiritual lesson. We gave her a Book of Mormon, testified of its truthfulness, and committed her to read it. She told us later she was reading the Book, and although we didn't baptize her, or weren't able to meet with her again, I believe she will one day find out the truth. 

As for T-Rex, he's just a guy we met the other night walking around an apartment complex. I just like his name. He was joking with us that he stared in Jurassic Park. 

Things are going well. It doesnt really feel like I'm finishing my mission anytime soon. I just gave my last training of my mission, which is really weird. But it honestly just feels like I will be doing the same thing next month and the month after and the month after...

Please continue praying for Miracle May! Not only for me but for your families as well! Lets ALL of us make May an amazing month! I love you all, and will talk to you next week!

Love, 

Elder Gleave

1) Dinner Mountain

2) Burning an Elder's Dallas Cowboy shirt and giving him a Bronco's.

3) SelfIez with Sister Warner!!

April 20, 2015

Cat's Pajamas

Hey Family! 

I dont know why I put that as my title. I just really have run out of creative titles. So cat's pajamas was the lucky winner today. 

This week has been incredible. I say that about every week, but that's because every week is incredible. Noted, missionary work does have its ups and downs, and not all the time is this sunshine and rainbows, but for the most part, it is good! 

Here's a few highlights of the week. 

On Thursday, I had my last Zone Conference. That was pretty weird. At Zone Conference, they always have the missionaries who are new to the mission, and who are going home give their testimonies. My whole mission I have been watching these missionaries get up there, cry their eyes out about how much their mission has meant to them, and then give amazing testimonies. I always wondered what it was going to be like for me. I guess it was one of those situations where you never really know what you are going to do until it happens. Well on Thursday it was my time. Although I knew it was coming, it really just sneaks up on you. The weird thing is, it just felt like another testimony. Maybe it is because I haven't really thought about the fact that I'm going home, or just it hasn't really hit me yet, it felt like I would be going up there in a few more months doing the same thing. It's weird to think about the fact that two years ago, I was giving my greenie testimony. It honestly feels like yesterday. That being said, there was two other missionaries who were giving their "dying" testimonies, but they had to leave early. As tradition goes, the missionaries who are going home, the whole rooms sings "Aloha Oe" to them. Usually there is 3 or 4 missionaries standing up there, but since they all left early, IT WAS JUST ME. Bahhh soo awkward! The whole zone was just staring at me. This mission is so amazing.

On Monday, President told us that he is going to designate May as "Miracle May" and we are going to shoot for 100 BAPTISMS. Of course, since it was my last month, I was all for this. MIRACLE MAY BABY GO BIG OR GO HOME! So me and Elder Samoala evaluated our potentials and decided that we are going to go for 4 baptisms in the month of May. So we needed to act THIS WEEK. We set up for baptism, our home boy Kaneke. He's so much fun to teach, and we love his guts. When we went over last week, we started sharing the gospel with his Mom, who is a non-member as well. And she immediately LOVED it. Every word we said, she enjoyed so much. We went over on Saturday, and committed them to be baptized on the same day. ETERNAL FAMILIES Y'ALL.  Then we had to act fast on this Samoan family that we got a referral for. It was the brother of a recent convert, and she told us to go visit them. We got a hold of them on Friday, and we taught them about the restoration of the gospel. The spirit was so strong. In the beginning, the father wasn't that interested in what we had to say, but by the end, he loved what we were teaching. We weren't able to get a commitment out of them, but he did invite us to go his 2 year-old daughter's party the next day! So things are looking up. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not teaching these people to get numbers or to brag or show I'm a good missionary, in all sincerity, I love these people we are teaching with all my heart, and although they don't see it now, these things which we are sharing can literally change their lives forever. And that's why I get so excited and try to get these 4 baptisms. I trust in the Lord and his work though. 

But all is well. I love this church so much! I love all of you! Thank you for the support and prayers! 

Love,

Elder Gleave

Week 97/98--T-Rex and Girl on the Beach

April 28, 2015

Hello Family! 

Your probably wondering about my title. That's good. I would be too.

On Wednesday, we were walking around, trying to see if people were home, and one of the members called us and told us in broken English that he has someone who wants to be baptized on Saturday and we need to come to the beach right now. A little suspicious, we went over to the beach he was at, and the member gets this blonde girl from off the beach. She comes over to us and says, "I'm not a Mormon, but I want to get baptized. Is that a problem?" Uhhh...no? But we quickly realized that she wanted to get baptized and stay in the Baptist Church, and was just looking for someone to baptize her. Well we told her that we should first probably teach her about our church. As we dove into the restoration, I quickly began to realize how religious she was. From first judgement, I thought there was no way that she took religion that seriously, and it was more of something she just wanted to do for fun. But she told us how she went to Egypt to know if the Bible was true, and how she wanted to give herself completely to God. The lesson actually turned out to be an incredibly spiritual lesson. We gave her a Book of Mormon, testified of its truthfulness, and committed her to read it. She told us later she was reading the Book, and although we didn't baptize her, or weren't able to meet with her again, I believe she will one day find out the truth. 

As for T-Rex, he's just a guy we met the other night walking around an apartment complex. I just like his name. He was joking with us that he starred in Jurassic Park. 

Things are going well. It doesn't really feel like I'm finishing my mission anytime soon. I just gave my last training of my mission, which is really weird. But it honestly just feels like I will be doing the same thing next month and the month after and the month after...

Please continue praying for Miracle May! Not only for me but for your families as well! Let's ALL of us make May an amazing month! I love you all, and will talk to you next week!

Love, 

Elder Gleave

1) Burning an Elder's Dallas Cowboys shirt and giving him a BroncosHello Family! 

Your probably wondering about my title. That's good. I would be too.

On Wednesday we were walking around, trying to see if people were home, and one of the members called us and told us in broken English that he has someone who wants to be baptized on Saturday and we need to come to the beach right now. A little suspicious, we went over to the beach he was at, and the member gets this blonde girl from off the beach. She comes over to us and says, "I'm not a Mormon, but I want to get baptized. Is that a problem?" Uhhh...no? But we quickly realized that she wanted to get baptized and stay in the Baptist church, and was just looking for someone to baptize her. Well we told her that we should first probably teach her about our church. As we dove into the Restoration, I quickly began to realize how religious she was. From first judgement, I thought there was no way that she took religion that seriously, and it was more of something she just wanted to do for fun. But she told us how she went to Egypt to know if the Bible was true, and how she wanted to give herself completely to God. The lesson actually turned out to be an incredibly Spiritual lesson. We gave her a Book of Mormon, testified of its truthfulness, and committed her to read it. She told us later she was reading the Book, and although we didn't baptize her, or weren't able to meet with her again, I believe she will one day find out the truth. 

As for T-Rex, he's just a guy we met the other night walking around an apartment complex. I just like his name. He was joking with us that he stared in Jurassic Park. 

Things are going well. It doesnt really feel like I'm finishing my mission anytime soon. I just gave my last training of my mission, which is really weird. But it honestly just feels like I will be doing the same thing next month and the month after and the month after...

Please continue praying for Miracle May! Not only for me but for your families as well! Lets ALL of us make May an amazing month! I love you all, and will talk to you next week!

Love, 

Elder Gleave

1) Dinner Mountain

2) Burning an Elder's Dallas Cowboy shirt and giving him a Bronco's.

3) SelfIez with Sister Warner!!

April 20, 2015

Cat's Pajamas

Hey Family! 

I dont know why I put that as my title. I just really have run out of creative titles. So cat's pajamas was the lucky winner today. 

This week has been incredible. I say that about every week, but that's because every week is incredible. Noted, missionary work does have its ups and downs, and not all the time is this sunshine and rainbows, but for the most part, it is good! 

Here's a few highlights of the week. 

On Thursday, I had my last Zone Conference. That was pretty weird. At Zone Conference, they always have the missionaries who are new to the mission, and who are going home give their testimonies. My whole mission I have been watching these missionaries get up there, cry their eyes out about how much their mission has meant to them, and then give amazing testimonies. I always wondered what it was going to be like for me. I guess it was one of those situations where you never really know what you are going to do until it happens. Well on Thursday it was my time. Although I knew it was coming, it really just sneaks up on you. The weird thing is, it just felt like another testimony. Maybe it is because I haven't really thought about the fact that I'm going home, or just it hasn't really hit me yet, it felt like I would be going up there in a few more months doing the same thing. It's weird to think about the fact that two years ago, I was giving my greenie testimony. It honestly feels like yesterday. That being said, there was two other missionaries who were giving their "dying" testimonies, but they had to leave early. As tradition goes, the missionaries who are going home, the whole rooms sings "Aloha Oe" to them. Usually there is 3 or 4 missionaries standing up there, but since they all left early, IT WAS JUST ME. Bahhh soo awkward! The whole zone was just staring at me. This mission is so amazing.

On Monday, President told us that he is going to designate May as "Miracle May" and we are going to shoot for 100 BAPTISMS. Of course, since it was my last month, I was all for this. MIRACLE MAY BABY GO BIG OR GO HOME! So me and Elder Samoala evaluated our potentials and decided that we are going to go for 4 baptisms in the month of May. So we needed to act THIS WEEK. We set up for baptism, our home boy Kaneke. He's so much fun to teach, and we love his guts. When we went over last week, we started sharing the gospel with his Mom, who is a non-member as well. And she immediately LOVED it. Every word we said, she enjoyed so much. We went over on Saturday, and committed them to be baptized on the same day. ETERNAL FAMILIES Y'ALL.  Then we had to act fast on this Samoan family that we got a referral for. It was the brother of a recent convert, and she told us to go visit them. We got a hold of them on Friday, and we taught them about the restoration of the gospel. The spirit was so strong. In the beginning, the father wasn't that interested in what we had to say, but by the end, he loved what we were teaching. We weren't able to get a commitment out of them, but he did invite us to go his 2 year-old daughter's party the next day! So things are looking up. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not teaching these people to get numbers or to brag or show I'm a good missionary, in all sincerity, I love these people we are teaching with all my heart, and although they don't see it now, these things which we are sharing can literally change their lives forever. And that's why I get so excited and try to get these 4 baptisms. I trust in the Lord and his work though. 

But all is well. I love this church so much! I love all of you! Thank you for the support and prayers! 

Love,

Elder Gleave