Week 9: Just another day in paradise!

So good news...I survived the Stormy! I know...hard to believe! So there was all this hype about this storm being a real doosy, but it didnt really affect us! For about two hours we got really bad rain and lightening, and our power went out, but nothing us missionaries can't handle! We had a car for the night so we went up to some missionaries who live upcountry because they had power. It was really crazy, just an insane downpour, then pow done. Oh well, all the hawaiians were freaking out because theyve never seen lightening before lol. Anyway I guess we have a hurricane coming? Should be interesting to see how people react this time.

Well another week gone by, another chance to spread the word. It's weird, normal life NOW seems like missionary life. Like it's hard to think that three months ago I was cruising on a lappytop and playing on an iphone and flirting it up with some ladies. It's weird too cuz I thought I would miss those things but I really dont! (except maybe the ladies part). Me and my comp are doing dynamite right now. We get along better than ever! It just goes to show you the harder you work, the more the lord blesses your life. 

Speaking of blessings from the lord, this week has been crazy in terms of missionary work. Usually, we count tracting contacts and knocking doors as "other lessons taught" which is just a way of keeping track of how many lessons we've taught, but this week the mission said that tracting no longer counts as teaching a lesson. So me and my companion were like "Oh well, I guess we will just have low number this week", but now that we are at the end of the week, we still have the same number of lessons! Which is amazing! Just goes to show you that the Lord's hand is in everything that we do, because we couldnt pull that feat off alon . Me and my comp have been crazy busy. Last transfer we had a lot of down time to do whatever, but now it's...work work work. After morning studies...work. After lunch...work. Before we would get home around 7 and call it a day, but now it's a surprise if we get back before 830-9. Sometimes we don't even eat dinner until that late if we aren't eating with a member! And let me tell you I love it. I love it so much. 

I think one of the best things about being a missionary is becoming so close with the members of the ward. There are members here who are just like family to me!  This weekend, we ate at this families' house on Friday, and then did service all day for them on saturday, then ate at their house again on Sunday! I seriously LOVE it. They are the best. They have a bunch of little kids so I just play legos with them and run around and play with them and what not. I can't wait to have kids. On Sunday, I ate something I've never had before...FISH HEAD. Yahooo! The guy across from me was eating so I decided to try it too! I ate the eyes...the tongue...the cheek everything! Nomnomnom. That night we went to a fireside where a bunch of the graduating youth sang and bore their testimonies, and I went with the family who had a lot of kids, and so they were being all noisy so I pulled out the white board and booyah! It worked! Didn't hear a peep out of them the rest of the night. When we were cleaning up, I played tag with all the kids and it was like the best time of my life. 

We have this really interesting investigator. We tracted into him, and a lot of the time teenagers just dont really want to say no. So we went back this week, and I was really hoping it would work out, so we taught him about faith and he was REALLY interested. He was like, when are you coming back?! And we were like....uhhh tomorrow! So we went back again tomorrow and taught him about repentance and he was loving it! He was eating up every word we were saying. We invited him to church, and he said he really really wanted to but he works (like everyone here) on Sunday. He told us he would try to get it off, but apparently he couldnt because he wasn't at church yesterday. That's okay though, it nice to just have someone interested! 

Also Rodger, the guy that has no legs? Yeah he's pretty much awesome. He has SUCH strong faith, and his life is insane. He's lived in Tahiti, lived in Japan and worked as a Bennihana chef.  He has worked all different jobs all over Hawaii. He went to accupuncture school and knew more about human anatomy than the doctors did because he's a huinter, he won a gold medal in rowing, he said he saw Pele, and has survived two heart attacks, countless hours of dialysis, and has no legs. Yet he is SO POSITIVE. He has all these trials and yet he just jokes around and lets nothing bother him. We read the Book of Mormon to him and he said it was the first time in 40 years hes read or heard the Book of Mormon. He was really excited to hear it! It really touched my heart. We brought the bishop by yesterday and he was really excited to meet him! I just wish we could get Rodger to church. He wants to go oh so bad, but he doesnt want to until he gets prosthetic legs so he can walk in himself.  

Anyway, all is good from Hawaii! I love it here! I know the Lord has blessed me, and continues to bless me as long as I stay faithful. One of the coolest part about the gospel is that no matter WHAT situation you are in, the true and everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ can help you. In anything. I can promise that in the name of Jesus Christ. The church is true, Heavenly Father knows us and loves us, and is waiting to help us out. We just have to ask. Thank you for all the love and support! Much love and aloha from Maui!

Elder Gleave

Week 8: Tropical storm GLEAVE

Theres a storm coming...a big storm...with lots of water involved...A STORM OF BAPTISM BY ELDER GLEAVE! 

Just kidding...

Well not really! Nothing planned yet. 

Anyway...Hey fam! Whats up? First off...Miss you all! Heres the deal, I guess a tropical storm is supposed to come but I dont even think its happening because its not raining. So dont worry dont worry about me! Alls well from Maui. Literally.

Me and my companion have vowed to make this a better transfer. We decided that this is going to be a harder working transfer.  And let me tell you...its been WORTH IT.

Ive been out a little over 2 months now, and it feels like this is my normal life. It was werid to think that I couldnt watch TV or movies or anything for two years, and now its weird to think that I ever did that! Mission life can be very stressful at times. Sometimes you just want a break, but you cant until monday! But then most of the times, you are just involved with the work that you never want it to end! Man, I love missionary work!

Sometimes I struggle with the fact that other missionaries are teaching more lessons, or getting more baptisms than I am, but I have to constantly remind myself that success is based on my commitment to serve. And as long as I am out there working as hard as I can, and as long as I am remaining as obedient as I can, then I am a successful missionary. Its also hard, because most of our success is coming through Less Active members, which doesnt show up as "numbers" so the zone leaders think that we arent good missionaries. But thats okat I could honestly care less about numbers. 

This week we had like 5 or 6 less actives come back to church which is like a NEW RECORD. This ward has 500 members in it, but only less than 100 come to church each sunday, so its a long road ahead of us. Its hard too because since Hawaii is such a touristy area, and tourists generally like doing things on sunday, a lot of the people CANT come to work because they work. It is also a very difficult obstacle for investigators also. They have the desire to go to church, they just cant because they work on sunday. It warms my heart when I see the less actives at church because I know that they are making that step to live those covenants they made with Heavenly Father and come closer to him. 

This week has been a lot better than the weeks in the past! I am feeling better about myself each day. When we are more obedient, I dont have to go through my day worrying about what I didnt do that day that I was suppose to, and more about what I am doing that very moment. And we've been more successful! 

Me and my companion had a very cool moment with one of our less active members. Usually, we teach his children because they are not members, but on Tuesday we decided to focus on him only. We talked to him about why he got baptized, and he told us about how his wife left him, and all the members went and visited her and not him, so it really offended him. He decided then that he wasnt going to go back to church, and he has been going to the Salvation Army Church ever since (apparently they have a church). The Spirit had been preparing me all week to be bold, and so I straight up just asked him if he believed this to be the true church. That was very scary, because sometimes people dont react well to that question. But without hesitation, he told me that he did. He explained to us that he knew this was the true church, and that he needs to go back, but hes too nervous to do it. He doesnt have the courage. So we explained that we are only here to help him, and to help him get back to church, and that we will be there every step of the way. Its hard because he knows that the people of the church might lead you astray, but the church will never lead you astray, but its hard to remake that commitment to live the life of the gospel. Being a member of this church is hard, but its defiantly worth it. The Lord appreciates the faithfulness of living such a hard life, and we are blessed in return. 

Also a cool experience, I was on exchanges with another Elder, and we visited this old man named Rodger (I might have mentioned him before) but he has no legs and is blind because of diabetes. (Which is scary! Everyone stay fit!!!) He's in similar, almost exactly the same situation as the person I just mentioned. He joined the church when he married his wife, then divorced her when she started getting into drugs and then he got offended at church and never went back. But we talked to him for 3 HOURS! (mostly him talking) but we did manage to squeeze in a restoration lesson to him and his wife. We taught them all about the restoration of the gospel, and the Spirit prompted the missionary I was with to ask if she wanted to be baptized! She said she would once she found out the church is true. But its hard because she works on sunday from 8-4 and she doesnt speak english that well, but I have faith that it will happen! I dont know how, but I know this baptism will happen if she discovers the truthfulness of this church for herself, and wants to be baptized. Rodger, her husband, asked for a Book of Mormon, and wants to come back to church! Its just hard with his lack of lower limbs and his dialysis, but with the help of the bishop and the ward members I believe he can come back to church! Its times like these when I feel confident that I am a successful missionary. Its when we help these people feel the spirit that I know that I am making a difference of their lives. Its tender mercies like these that make me more excited about living and serving in this gospel. 

But I have to be running now! I love this church. I love serving. One of the best things about this gospel is that it can help out anyone in any situation they are in! No matter if you are happy, or sad, it can bless your life! 

I love you all!

Elder Gleave

Week Seven: What up HAWAII!!!

Hows it parents!

I hope everything's going well in Colorado! How's the family? How's will? How's having taylor? 

Missionary life is coming along as usual! We had transfers this week, so its been kinda a weird week. Elder Powell, who lived me for 6 weeks, ended his mission and so he packed up and left. It was really weird to get to know someone, live with them, and become besties for like 6 weeks and then just have him pack up and leave. Every missionary tells me that Im going to get used to it, but I dont see how. So we got a new guy in our house, whose from Oahu. He speaks Marshallese, so I think thats why he's sent here. He's really hyper and tests my patience a lot, but he's a really hard worker and great missionary, and I know he will bring to pass miracles here in Kahului. 

We have yet to see the fruits of our labor. We have yet to have someone come to church, or really anyone progressing. Its been incredibly hard to stay motivated. I was getting so frustrated, even to the point where I felt like I was being a bad missionary. I was feeling like everything I was doing, I was doing wrong, and that I was loosing faith. It was getting hard to see the end goal, to vision myself bringing someone closer to Christ. I was almost to the point of giving up, when yesterday I opened my scriptures in desperation and came across Alma 32:21. "And now as I said concerning faith-- faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true." And even though Ive read that scripture before, it really spoke to me. and then last night I asked Elder Hunter if he wanted to do companionship prayer, which we havent done since the beginning of my mission. And so he said the prayer, and after the prayer, I sat there with my eyes closed not even thinking, and a voice came into my head. It wasnt my voice, but I know it was the Holy Ghost speaking to me. It said, "Stay strong Elder Gleave." It was clear as day. I cannot mistake this event to be anything other than Heavenly Father encouraging me. I have realized that whatever trials that occurring now, they are preparing me for the future. Whatever Heavenly Father has planned for me later in this mission or in my life, he is giving me this trial that I have to better me. I regret to think that I was losing faith, but I know that I'm not perfect, and that in our times of need, Heavenly Father will strengthen us. So I am reminded of the many prophets that endured great tests of faith. Whether Nephi, who's bow had broken during his time in the wilderness when the Lord instructed him to go there, or Alma and Amulek as they we were put into prison and forced to see the faithful women and children burned, or even Joseph Smith, and the trails he endured to bring Christs true gospel back unto this Earth, Im thankful for their example in my life to help me bring me closer to Heavenly Father. 

So now that Ive told you about my spiritual excitement, time to tell you about the weird things that happens as a missionary. So we were tracting with our mini missionary (someone from the ward who gets set apart and lives with us for 3 days) and went to go visit this potential investigator named warrik. His door was behind his house, so we went and turned the corner to go knock, and there was a girl sitting there in her bikini tanning! Now that's really not that awkward, because Ive seen people in bikinis before and its really not that big of a deal. But she was all embarrised and like ohhh....im so so sorry...And we were like well does Warrick live here? And she was like uhhh...he's inside. so we went up and knocked on the door, and she was sitting like two feet from us, just staring at us! and he wasnt answering his door! SO LIKE TWO MINUTES PASSED BY AND NOTHING WAS SAID...IT FELT LIKE AN ETERNITY. It was so awkward. we were like...uhhh...so can we say a prayer with you? and she was like ummm...(covering her body with her shirt) im not interested. We were like okay...well bye. and just ran away as fast as we could. there was nothing we could say or do at that time that could make that situation not awkward. 

Anyway...the joys of serving a mission! Im so very thankful to be here in Hawaii! 

I love everyone of you so very much and miss you with all my heart! Please keep writing! I cherish and save every email and letter! I love hearing about you life! 

I pray for you all everyday! 

Much love from Maui! 

Elder Gleave

Week Six: Kama'aina

Hey Gleavers!

Miss yo crazy faces all four of you! SO heres the big news...IM STAYING IN KAHULUI!!! nothings changing really. My companion got called DL and Elder Basag is getting a new greenie Marshallese missionary to train. So we will have two brown kids and two white kids in one pad! its gonna be sick. I cant believe its been 6 weeks already. It feels like I just got out here! But when I look back at where I started, I can see the progression ive made spiritually and in this area as a missionary. I guess its kinda like when you are growing up with someone, you dont notice that they grow because they grow a little each day, but when you look back at their pictures you realize just how much theyve grown! thats the same here. sometimes its hard to see the growth youve made if its gradual, but if you take a step back and look at the progress youve made then it makes appraciate the lords hand in your work. I asked my Zone Leader who is leading this week to go back to Oahu if he had any last minute advice for me, and he said "utalize this transfer to make the necessary changes to make the rest of the transfer successful. You have to futher your commitment to serve the Lord, then help your companion become more commited as well." I really took that advice to heart. I thought that was really good advice, and something that I am going to do. This transfer we are going to work harder. I know that if we put in the extra time, miracle will happen. 

So today we went to Haleakala! All the missionaries woke up at 3 in the morning so we could make it to the top before the sunrise. Since its 10000 ft at the top, its like pretty freezing. like probably 40 degrees. Just picture like 20 missionaries huddled at the top of a mountain with blankets and short sleeve tshirts on. hahaha it was awesome! The sunrise was so pretty. You could see for miles above the clouds. You could turn one way and see the valley of Maui below you and turn the other way see the two mountains on big island. Sometimes being stuck in Kahului, the more city area of the island, without cars, its hard to realize you are on a island. But when I was up there, with the whole island before me, I began to realize how blessed I am to be on a mission here in Hawaii. Sorry if my english is really bad right now. I feel like ive been hit with a brick in the face im so tired. thats another thing!

I dont know what it is about being on a mission, but im always tired!! It super weird!! Maybe its cuz of the spirit, maybe its cuz we are on bikes, but Im getting more sleep then in college and each day Im so tired! Will said this would happenen, but I didnt think it would. I guess he was right.

So Ive had one really cool experience this week! So things got a little crazy on friday. Elder Powell, our district leader, had a training meeting in Lahina. So all the DLs got into one car, and so we had 5 missionaries together with nothing to do. So the Wialuku area (the area next to us) had a companionship that had struggles getting out and working, so my companion, and Elder Basag (the one I live with) went with one of the Elders to go work in their district. So thats not that important, but that means I was left one of the Greenie missionaries I came out with. The zone leaders told us that we were giving a blessing, and so we asked who we were giving a blessing to and what for? They said that they didnt know, just that there was a YSA member who had a brother in the hospital who was a nonmember who needed to recieve a blessing. So we didnt know who he was, where he was, or what the blessing was for. The Zls gave us a number to call, and said that the blessing was suppose to be at 1130. So we called the people...no answer. 30 minutes later we called...no answer. it was about 1155, and we figured this blessing wasnt going to happen, so we were about to leave when we got a call from the girl! She said that we needed to be there in the next half an hour to give the blessing. So we rushed over there as fast as we can! when we were in the car, we decided that I would give the blessing. I thought, I can do this, Ive given blessings to my sick friends before! When we got there, the girl was like okay do you need to know anything about him? And I was like is he just sick? And she bubbly when we got there, but then suddenyl she got super quite and just said, "well the doctors found cancer in him. He's going into to sugery in a half and hour." Woah...This isnt, oh ive got a sore thraot can you give me a blessing? This is possibly a life or death situation. At first I was scared. I mean what do you say? But as I quickly thought about it, I knew the Lord knew the desires of my heart. I knew that the blessing would be given by the spirit and not me! I immediately became calm and confident. Then we walked into the room. It was as if it was taken out of a movie. The brother was sitting in the bed, with the girlfriend sitting in the chair next to him clutching his arm as if she was never wanted to let go, tear tracks on her cheeks. The mother was standing a little behind, giving concerned glances from us, to the son, then to the daughter. The boy was so young. Not much older then me. He had a blank look on his face, as if he didnt know what to think. He seemed almost in shock. When we asked him his full name, his voice was quiet. It was strong, yet had a hint of fear. Then I was nervous again. As I started the blessing, my legs began shaking. but then something amazing happened. The Spirit overcame me, and I was directed to bless him with a successful surgery. I was guided to give him a bless of comfort, strength, and healing. It was weird, because I didnt have anytime to prepare before the blessing, and I had no idea what to say. But as I was giving the blessing, the words just flowed out of my mouth. When I closed the prayer, the girlfriend and the sister had tears in their eyes. I know the spirit of the Lord was present in that room, and their hearts, as well as mine were touched that afternoon. The Sister walked us out, and thanked us for the blessing. She said she felt more at peace now, and even though her brother wasnt a member she said she knew he'd be okay. Later that night, the zone leaders said they talked to the dad, and he said that the son was doing well. That he had a successful surgery! And he said the dad was so very thankful, and the ZL said he thinks the dad is going to be baptized. In my patriartical blessing it says that I will have to use my priesthood power in times where there is little time to prepare, and the consiquences will be dire, even eternal. And I never thought that would happen. I never thought that I would give the blessing to anyone who was in a life or death situation. But I know that this is what it was taking about in my blessing. That this exact situation is what my blessing is refering to. Its amazing what the priesthood can do for us. That it is GODS power to heal and do proper ordiences here on this Earth. I have a firm testimony that the priesthood is real, that it has been restored to man so man can organize Christ's true chruch on this land. I feel blessed that I am able to use this priesthood power, acording to Gods will, to help other people.

Well beside that, this week has been pretty slow. Me and Basag went on a lot of exchanges this week because Elder Powell is dying (ending his mission) this week and had a lot of things to gather together before he leaves. I guess my companion wanted to be with him the whole time, idk. But it was good to be with Basag! He has a lot of fire and a lot of drive as a missionary! 

We are still working on getting an investigator to church, but we are starting to get more of the ward members involved in missionary work. The Bishop has been really helpful, and I think we are going to starting getting more member referals and more success! 

Missionaries are really goofy! I dont know if thats the lack of woman contact, or the fact that we have to entertain ourselves without elctronics, but we are weird. super weird. we LOVE catching cockroaches and tourtering them. We eat ice cream and ramen for breakfast. we have dance parties to MOTAB with flashing bike lights. We are weird. 

I cant wait for that first baptizm! I pray everyday that my investigators hearts will be softened, that they might act on the promptings of the spirit. I know one day it will happen as long as I stay faithful. I know that I am brought here to learn patients, how to work hard, and to be humble, and that when eventual success happens, I know it will be of the Lord. 

I love hearing from all of you! Keep sending me an updates of life I love it! And I love all of you!

Keep strong, pray often, and I know the Lord will bless your life!

Much love! 

Elder Gleave

Week Five: I LOVE HAWAII

How's it from Maui!!!

Good news. I'm happier than ever! This place is AWESOME. I'm learning to love the people here with all fiber of my being. I work with a lot of Micronesians and Asian people and let me tell you, I love them. The area I'm serving in is on the poorer side. Since Hawaii is such an expensive place to live, people are often time struggling financially. I always pictured my mission as something where I struggle in an impoverished community high in the andes, so I guess I got what I wanted just on an island! I love poor people. They are so friendly, and what they dont have in material, they make up in spirit. If America is a giant melting pot, Hawaii must be the very center. It's funny because in my patriatical blessing, it says that I will be teaching people of many different cultures and nations, and so I thought I would be called to somewhere foreign. But its funny how the Lord works, because now I'm in hawaii teaching more cultures than I ever could have imagined!! Its funny, they all have their unique cultures, but they also have an underlying Hawaiian pride!

Things are moving along here in Kahului! We have more and more appointments, but the only problem is that no one is ever home. But I feel inspired to tell you about a certain person that we found:

So on Wednesday me and my campanion were struggling. We rode around our WHOLE area, had a plan to visit all these people, and no one was home. It was hot, and humid, and I was frustrated. And then I remembered about a talk I read about the enabling power of the Atonement. I remember that with Christ's true and everlasting sacrifice, we were given the ability to endure. The Atonement not only cleansed us of our sins, but allowed us to be able to endure any trials that are placed before us. So we went to our 4 o'clock appt, and the family wasnt really ready to hear our message. They were swimming, and Im not sure how much they got out of our short lesson. So afterward I was just frustrated beyond belief, and so while we were riding our bikes I prayed to our heavenly father asking him to not changed my situation, but give me the strength to be able to endure the trial presented before me. And what happened next was a true testament and answer to my prayers. We then visited a less active member, one who was recently baptized, and guess what, he was home! He seemed to really enjoy the message that we shared with him, and desired to come back to church. Then we found someone on our former investigator list, so we went to go visit him. We knocked on his door, and asked are you so and so? And he said no, Im Idle (sounds like El Dee). And usually in this situation we asked them if theyve ever talked to missionaries before, and they say no but we are busy right now. So usually its a failure. So we did the same thing, and asked if we could say a prayer with him. He's Filipino, and he BARELY spoke English, so we could barely communicate with him. We had to talk really slow, and use sign language, but he seemed interested in what we had to say. So we figured out, with some time, that he speaks Tagalog, and that we would return tomorrow to teach him. So one of the missionaries that lives with me is Filipino, and he is fluent in Tagolic, so I went on exchanges with him the next day. We showed up, and knocked on the door...no answer...the door was open, and the screen door was shut, so we said "Aloha!"...no answer...knock plus "Aloha!"...no answer. And I felt inspired to just yell his name, which I never do, So I yelled "Ilde!" And we heard in the back, "Yes?" "It's the missionaries!!" "Okay one second..." and so in a few minutes he came outside and we sat down. I said "Hi Ilde, we brought a Tagolic missionary along" and that was the only thing I said for two hours. Elder Basag taught him for two strait hours in Tagolic. It was amazing to see! He taught him about the Restoration, and it was amazing to see his demeanor go from skeptical, to interested, to hungry for more. It was a little awkward though because they would both look at me, talk in Tagalog, and then laugh. Im pretty sure they were making fun of me! hahaha thats okay though. Its interesting, because Elder Basag got transferred out of his last area really early, and we didnt know why, but now we have two Tagalog investigators, and now I know that he is meant to come here to teach these people. The Lord needs this valuable message to be shared, and he will do it according to his will. I know that these people were prepared for Basags message, and he will be heard. 

So we totally hiked into the creator of Haleakala! Our ward was going, so we decided that we needed to build ward trust and get to know the members. If you are friendly to the members, and they know you and trust you, they wont be afraid to give you a referral. So we woke up at 4 in the morning on Saturday and met at the church. We planned to make it to the sunrise, but we didnt get there in time! We didnt go all the way to the top, but we went to about 8000 feet up. It was like 50 degrees outside, and all the Hawaiians were freaking out. They were like THIS IS THE COLDEST IVE EVER BEEN. hahaha I was just sitting there in my shorts laughing. We started up, and hiked switch backs down into the creator and ate lunch there. It felt like we were hiking on some ancient Mayan trail, but jk we are just in a volcano. When we got to the bottom, we ate some spam, fed some nenes, and explored in a lava tube. I talked to some people from Germeny, and then talked to one of the youth about serving a mission so it wasnt all in vain! Plus it was super fun and pretty! I feel asleep at the top because we got to the top a hour and a half before everyone else. So now Im sitting here with pink legs and aloe smeared all over them haha. We watched the broadcast yesterday, and I know that it was the right idea to go on that hike and be with the members. Missionary work is mostly through members, and we are here to help guide and hasten that processes, and so its important to get this ward missionary minded. From what I've been told, this ward is not totally focused on missionary work, so its important that we get them there. As it was said in the broadcast, every member is a missionary, and it was important that we gain this wards trust so we could remind them of that without being offensive. I know this is a place where missionary work could florish, but we need the help of the members. They are amazing people I know that they can bring the work of salvation to many.

I know that the Lord has sent me to this specific place, and that he has sent me here for a reason. Each struggle is a lesson. Each success is a blessing. I know that if I continue to work hard, the Lord wont let me fail. One thing that is really amazing to me is how much Ive grown spiritually here! I love my Savior, and all he's done for me. I cant process the events that transpired in Jerusalem, but I know how they continually bless my life. Christ lives.

Good days come, bad days come, but overally the worst days are starting to be better than my old best, because I am doing for and with the Lord. It sounds like the fires are picking up at home, I hope everyone is okay! Its weird being so distant from news and sports. Its like Im the person who is a week late on watching the lastest eppisode of Gossip Girl and everyones talking about it and wont tell me anything about it. But thats missionary work. I might be having too much fun here. I LOVE HAWAII. OH BRAH YOU WANT TO GET BATIZED YEAH?

Keep me in the loop people. I love hearing about you. Tell me about your life. Anyway, long story short, the church is true. 

BYEEEEEEE

Elder Gleave

Week Four: Hows it from Hawaii?

Hows it. 

Sorry I didn't write yesterday, we got wrapped in a hike that took most of the day. We pulled off on the side of a winding road, and everyone piled out. On the right of the street there was a giant wall of 30 foot bamboo. The whole street was COVERED with bamboo, and there was a little entrance where everyone in the zone started filing into. It was literally a bamboo forest. It was like we went into Narnia, and instead of a vast kingdom and talking animals there were yelling missionaries and bamboo everywhere. Eventually we came upon a river, which we followed until we eventually came upon a stunning waterfall. There was people jumping off it into the pool below, and let me tell you, the temptation was real. It looked SO FUN. We climbed up so more and there was another waterfall! Literally so amazing. Whenever we were climbing through the bamboo it felt like we were pandas lol. 

So I've only got 30 minutes so I gotta make this quick, also sorry to anyone whose e-mail I might have not gotten to. You aren't forgotten!

Work is picking up here in Kahului! So 3 weeks ago I started out with 0 investigators and no we probably have 11 or 12! We got 9 last week. You might have missed that. 9 FREAKING INVESTIGATORS. WHAT. So awesome! Talk about miracle from the Lord. I know that the Lord has blessed us with help bring sheep unto the fold. It's still super frustrating though because no one is ever there for their appointments, but thats okay. That's missionary work! Hopefully we will be able to get a solid investigator soon! I know that the Lord helped us out. Any investigator we have gotten was from the help of the Lord, nothing on my own accord! Me and my companion are getting along better, the zone is doing great, and the people of Hawaii are such strong saints. 

Its super awesome, Im totally a minority. Theres people from all walks of the island life here. Microneaseans, Polyneans, everything. 

Just a couple of funny stories: The other night, we were at our dinner and the Piilani Elders (The Tongan Ward) called us and said that we needed to run splits. So me and Hunter got in the car with them, and we went to the Tongan members house. The investigator showed up, and then I realized that it was a Tongan Dinner. The bad thing about Tongan Dinners is that if you are white, they like to see how much you can eat. And its not very polite to say no. So I've already eaten and they sit down and say "Here Elders, eat eat!" and just pile on my plate. Im not kidding you when I tell you that the struggles are real. I had to pray for strength to finish the meal. Talk about Struggasaurs-Rex. But like always, the Lord came through, and suddenly my belly felt like it was empty everytime I took a bite.

Speaking of my belly, I ate a whole can of Spam the other day. My belly didnt like that.

We hunt cockroaches like every night at our pad. We run around with hangers yelling "Ipis!" (Cockroach in Tagalog) and then smack em till their dead. Sometimes we catch lizards and play with them too.

Getting up in the morning is getting harder and harder, but ya know it has to be done. I think the jetlag is wearing off. It's weird, I get more sleep than at college, but I'm like 6156546846844665564x more tired. I'm a firm believer that when have a big spiritual experience, you are incredibly more tired afterward. 

Regardless of the lack of PROGRESSING investigators, we have seen people's faith increase when it comes to less actives. Which, by my book, is a win. Regardless if they dont count as a baptism, I think bring less actives back to church is just as big part of missionary work as any other. If I can get someone to go back to church, it is as just as big as a win then anything else. 

Anyway, I got to go. Let me know if the fires get any closer! Just use your best judgement on my things to keep. Anyway, Im proud of you Dad! Good job being a missionary! Sounds like the spirit inspired you to use that question, props for listening to it! We might not be reach the 200 goal in the mission, we will probably end up mis-180's but we still have a week! Dad, I would encourage you to read Preach My Gospel. Even if you are not going on a mission, It is valuable to know because we should be always striving to share the gospel. And its a good testimony boost. Actually, everyone should read it! 

Ive really seen and felt the power of the Lord these few days. Words cannot describe how thankful I am for his influence and love. He truely strengthens me where I am week. I also feel eternally blessed by the Atonement. Alma 7:11-13 has really been a comfort these last few days! LOOK IT UP.

Keep me in your hearts! Dad I got your letter today. I sent the letter to you guys on monday so thats how long it takes. Will you post my letter address online?

I love you all! The church is true! 

Ke Akua Pua Hui Hou Kaku 

God Be with you till we meet again.

Elder Gleave

Week Three in Maui

Hey Family!

What a week it's been. 

Last time I emailed you was monday, and we went on a hike after the email! We drove along the coast until we stopped at a bend in the road, and the whole zone pilled out of 4 or 5 cars. There wasnt really a trail head, so I was all confused, but we ended up just jumping rocks down a river until we came to this amazing water fall into a pond. There was a rope swing from a tree into it, and I could tell that this tongan elder REALLY wanted to jump in! haha. Then we climbed down the river so more and we came across a bigger waterfall then an even BIGGER waterfall! It was like maybe 20 or 25 feet up. I have a video of that very same Elder wanting to jump in so bad. He would look over the edge and jump yell "oh come on!!!" then back away and just shake his head. Super pretty hike though. 

So last week I was super amped about Jannon and his baptismal date. So we were suppose to visit him on tuesday. We had taught a former investigator, Kathleen, the week before but her dad was catholic and she seemed worried about him. But anyway we had planned to meet with them both on tuesday and so we biked all the way out to Kathleens house just to knock on the door and her brother to say "Oh shes sleeping." Gosh dang it. To make things worse we biked all the way back to Jannons house and his brother was like "Oh he's not here right now". So frustrating. Thats obviously what happens in missions its just hard to finally get someone interested just to have them bail out. IM MEAN WERE TALKING ABOUT YOUR SALVATION HERE PEOPLE. I just wished people realized how important our message is. But they have their free agency and satan works well against them. 

Not a lot more has happened this week. Its incredibly frustrating because we are trying to visit former investigators, less active, and part member families, but its hard on bikes. This people are people who havent been contacted in 6 months maybe a year, so a lot people have moved, or just arent home. So we will bike up to someones house, which might take 15 minutes just for them not be there. Then we will bike to the next persons house maybe 5 minutes away for them to move. And then we will go visit a former investigator 10 minutes away and they arent interested anymore. So that 30 mins wasted on travel and no lessons taught! Not to mention its hard work! But not to worry. As long as we work and put in those extra miles, the Lord will bless us with miracles. 

So just an update, we have been struggling all week, biking hard, praying harder, and finally we had a break though Saturday night. I told my companion that we need to go out before lunch, which we usually dont do, so we went to Jannons house. Unfortunately he was at his moms house, so we decided to visit a less active. We went to this guys house John, who was super super cool! He said he's from West Jordan and is moving there again soon, but has been in Maui for 7 years. We just shared a scripture with him about enduring to the end, and he told us, "I just feel good having you guys here with us." YESSSS. He's feeling the spirit! BOOYAH. Talk about blessings. Later that afternoon we went to a baptism that the zone leaders had. We had an appointment with a part member family later that day, and they texted us and canceled, so i was so frustrated. That makes all our appointments all week canceled. I was fuming. I was just done. I quit. And so after the baptism we went to the family of the kid who was getting baptized house for a party! so we ate choke food and talked and had fun and then the grandfather gave a speech and said basically this: "You see these Elders right here. They are the reason why I'm in the church. I served as ward mission leader for 21 years, and they are out here serving the lord. They changed my life and they changed my grandsons life too. Listen to what they have to say. They have a good message that can change your life." And then he had us sing "Called to serve" to the kid being baptized. I realized how important the work was and how great a service we were doing. When we got back to the pad around 5 o clock, I still had to dig down deep to find strength to go out and work. I just wanted to crash. We went to a part members house though, and we saw the dad outside and he didnt look too happy to see us. He said, "its not a good time right now" so we went our way. Oh great. So then we just decided to go see Kathleen. We went to her house and she was home! She was surprised to see us, and I dont know how too happy here parents were that we were there, but we just shared a quick message with her. We gave her a book of mormon and read 1 Nephi 3:7 with her and told her why keeping the commandments was important. She said she would read the book of mormon and pray about, and I could tell she was feeling the spirit. I just think its hard for her because she doesnt know english very well. 

Most of the people we teach are from Micronesia or Polynesia, so they arent that good at english. If it they do speak english its really FOB or pidgoeny. Its pretty funny but way hard to understand. Anyway after our lesson with Kathleen I felt really really good! All that frustration was worth it! teaching lessons is the best. 

On thursday we went up to Pulehu (Look it up), where the first missionaries in Maui built the first chapel. It was this small, old style church building, and thats where we had zone conference. It was so beautiful up there! makes me jealous because Im stuck in a poor city. But I love it where I am. But anyway, it was President and Sister Daltons farewell adress. It was their last zone conference, and they bore their testimony and answered any questions we had for them. The spirit was strong in the building, and tears were shed, and even though Ive known them for a week, I can see the progress they've built. They are amazing!

This goal of 200 baptisms in June might actually happen. We'll see though because the drop out rate is large. That would be incredible!

I havent gained much weight I dont think! The biking helps out a lot. Im always sweating, always having fun! I might have actually lost weight. There is cockroaches EVERYWHERE. Every night when I go into the bathroom theres 2 or 3 crawling around on my gel and razor. I hid my tooth brush so they dont climb on it. I stepped on one last night going into the garage last night and it freaked me out!! Theres always lizards crawling around our house but we leave them be because they just eat the bugs. 

The best are dinners with the family. I love them! They are always so much fun and they laugh and feed us so much. Last night we went over to the Kamas for dinner for the second time. The Filipino wife is a fireball and the dad is from Hawaii so he's always like "You like some more food brudda?". They are so crazy, and they laugh at everything! Its a roit when I go over there. The members are so strong over here. They may not be the most educated because most are financially struggling, but they make up for it with love and care. They all have such a deep faith in the gospel, and put such strong trust in the Lord. 

My companion is awesome. He's from Tennessee. He served in a Tongan Ward, and in those wards you have to be more relaxed and hang out with the members in order to gain their trust. Tongan wards consist of people all over the island, so you cant tract to find them so you work though member referrals. He's super smart in terms of gospel knowledge. He also has a strong testimony. 

Ive been reading a lot about the Atonement lately. They gave us this atonement packet, and I decided im going to read it. Its all just talks about the Savior! Its so amazing. I never really had that strong of a testimony of the atonement, but after reading the booklet, I must have grown because every time I look at a picture of the savior I just get this overwhelming feeling of peace and love. I seriously love him. If youre ever struggling, read about the savior and you are in for a treat! 

Well I gotta get going! I love you all and love hearing about home! So alls well in Hawaii Land! Much Love from Maui! Keep me updated yeah?

Love you! 

Elder Gleave

Week Two: Maui Wowie

Hey Gleavelets! 

Guess where I am! Go ahead. Guess. That's right. I'm in Maui!! But anyway lets take a step back yeah? 

So it was the last day of the MTC and we were all like freaking out (good way and bad way). All the girls wanted blessing so we gave them all blessings. It was cool because one of the sisters asked me to give her a blessing so obviously I did, and let me tell you I dont remember a word I said in there. The spirit put the words in my mouth, and I guess it was exactly what she needed to hear. It was first time that has ever happened that strongly. Well it was hard to say goodbye all my MTC buddies but it helped that I was going to Hawaii. The amount I grew there was insane. I started off going there believing that Book Of Mormon was written for me and I could get revelation. I believed that Christ died for our sins. I believed the church was true. But let tell you, I know that these things are true. I know with all my heart that Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for our sins and died on the cross so we could be cleansed of the mistakes we've made. I know that God is our heavenly Father, and when we die we shall return to live with him again as father and son. I know that the Book Of Mormon is a true book of God, and in it are answers and truths that are written for us in our day. The Holy Ghost is real, and its influence in my life is huge. It comforts me, and helps with me with my problems. I know without a doubt that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, just like Abraham, Moses, and Noah, and he was sent here to restore the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ask me before the MTC and I'll tell you I believed, ask me now? I know these things. I know them with all my heart.

So anyway, time to go to Hawaii, yeah? The flight wasnt too bad. I sat next to two sister missionaries so I couldnt (thankfully) talk to nonmembers about the gospel. It's not that I didnt want to, its just that i was way to scared. Well we got to Hawaii, and IT IS BEAUTIFUL. We flew into Oahu. I met to mission president and the APs and they are really awesome. It's weird like being here. I was so nervous. Honolulu is way urbanized. Its like a REAL city yeah. There's so many big hotels and skye scrapers, its not what I pictured. Anyway, the APs took us to the mission home, and its weird because they were like "this is one of the nicest houses in Hawaii. Like their neighborhood is for houses that are millions of dollars" and I got there and it was like smaller than most peoples houses in Colorado! It was only one floor! Just weird how much everything cost yeah. Anyway, they took us to the house, gave the low down and rules on what to expect, and we went to a baptism! the TAB (tabernacle) in Honolulu is where it was held. It was amazing to see someone change their life like that. Choosing the gospel, and how happy he was to be apart of something this great. He was a Chuckesse man (from the island of Chuck), and he was just smiling the whole time! We went back to the house and they gave us all envelopes on where we were serving. I was so nervous yeah. FIRST AREA!!! I really really wanted to get off island (off of oahu), so like I was just about to burst when I opened mine and it said I was serving in Maui. Merry Christmas Elder Gleave!!!!! There was like five of us going to Maui too, so I was stoked because we'd see them each week during district meeting and zone conference. We slept at a members house, but I didnt much sleeping. We had transfer meeting at the TAB the next day, and all the Pollys are always yelling when people get called. President Dalton and Sister Dalton gave their testimony becuase it was their last transfer meeting. It was incredible. The faithfulness of that couple is so inspiring. 

After the meeting and some good ol training we had a little tracting. Not too bad yeah. THEN OFF TO MAUI!!! My companion is Elder Hunter. He's this short little guy from Tennessee. He's way nice and pretty experienced. He's been out 15 months. Okay but here are when things start getting weird. So we got in and got to our pad (our house), and they took me to Wal-mart to get some supplies. I thought we'd have a lesson, dinner appt, or something, but we just got stuff and then went back to the pad and hung out. I thought it was just because it was my first day, but apparently heres the deal: Im in Kahului area right now, and before I came in there was only two Elders there. But when I came in, that companionship split up, and me and another Elder came in and joined those two. So Elder Hunter and Elder Powell were the only two Elders in the ward, but theres me and Hunter, and Powell and Elder Basag. The only problem is that we jhad to split the area. All the work, all the investigators, and the places that Powell and Hunter had worked on previously went to Basag and Powell, while me and Hunter got nothing. We have no investigators, and all we have is former investigators. So the first REAL day I was out there and allowed to work, heres what happened. We had to the early morning study yeah, and then I was expecting to get going around 11. But we kinda just waited around, then another companionship came over so we went and got lunch at food land around noon. And then so we got lunch and we ate it and kinda just sat around al lot. We didnt even get out of the house till 2! Im like what the heck. I just want to work!!! And so were walking right now becuase I'm in a biking area and we havent gotten our two new bikes yet. So we were walking and decided to start tracting. Funny story so we went to literally the second house and we knocked on the door and we heard through the window "Can I help you?" We look through the window and see a lady BREASTFEEDING!!!! WHAAAAAAAT. EWWWWW. I guess like father like son. So we basically were like uhhh nevermind and just away. Anyway, the rest of the we tried visiting former investigators and literally no one was home. We went to the pad around 4 and Hunter seemed like really discouraged and I was like come on man we got to go. And so he got up and we went and visited so members and less active. We visited so family from the Marshal Islands and gave his wife a blessing because she was sick with an ear infection. Then we went to a members house and introduced ourselves, and they actually were nice to offered to make us dinner! it was good because we hadnt eatten. 

Well anyway, friday was the same deal. We got out late, walked like 5 miles, and got pretty much no wheres. Its like really frustrating becuase we just walk and walk to one house, knock on the door, and no ones there. We dont really tract, and we dont really teach. All it is walking. I guess my companion served in a tongan ward, and so in there you kinda HAVE to be a little bit relaxed, but I was just frustrated because I felt like we could do so much more. We actually got one former investigator to answer, Kathleen, and she seemed pretty interested, but her dad was Catholic so she was worried about him. We figured out a time on tuesday we could back, when her Dad isnt home so we could teacher her. It doesnt seem so sure though. Anyway, just again, not a really productive day. We ate at the bishops house that night, and it was good to meet them! Awesome family, awesome bishop. 

So on saturday we went to a baptism over by Kihei in the Tongan ward. That was really cool! But after we went to a togan birthday party, not even in our ward. It was so awesome to see all the Tongans and to eat their food and stuff, but we didnt get done until 2:30! I mean thats like half our day. And When we got back, my companion had to work on a talk and so we didnt get out until like 4. At least we got our bikes. But oh wait, my companion popped his tire in about 20 mintues of riding them! So we were like in the farthest away zone in our area and his tire popped. We managed to visit a less active who has choke (a lot of) number of kids not baptized and set up time we could teach them, and we headed back. So we taught one person. All day. I know I shouldnt be pushy, and just kinda relax but I know we can do better than ONE person in one day. I mean come on. I want to serve the Lord with all my heart! And so we got back around 6:30 because our food was being dropped off, but the person didn't even come till 8:00. So basically we were just sitting around for an hour and a half. I wanted to be obedient and serve with all my heart, but I didnt want to be an uptight Elder who cant have any fun. So when I got home i just dropped to my knees and prayed. I prayed with all my heart and strength for heavenly father to help me, to help me know what to do. Thats when I got up and walked by my computer and had a thought that said, "read your patriartical blessing". And i was like thats weird, I know everything in it. And then a little bit later I walked by again, and again it was read your patriatical blessing. So I pulled it out, and when I got the part about being a missionary I read "You will serve with total dedication". And thats when the spirit overcame me. I knew I had to be obedient even when other people might not be. Then "we are as the army of helaman" started playing in my head, and i thought about the army of helaman which serves with exact obedience. And i knew that the spirit had told me to read my blessing, and put that song into my head. I then made a promise with heavenly father that I would be exactly obedient. 

Anyway sunday rolled around, and We went to church and came back. It was around 440 by the time we got back and dinner was at 6, so I had an impresson we should go tracting. My companion was reluctant because he hated tracting and they usually sit around until dinner on sunday but i told him we had to. So we went and like the first five houses: nothing. The next five: nothing. I was thinking to myself tracting is stupid. And then we came to this kids house and we did what we call the prayer approach. That is where you meet them, ask if you can pray with them, and then when you do they feel the spirit and then teach them about the spirit and then right then you ask them to be baptized. Just like that. And so this kid Jannon we prayed for him and his mom and then asked him how he felt and he said that it was like his Mom was going to get better. We told him that was the Holy Ghost and then told him one way he can feel that more often is through baptism and guess what...HE WANTED TO BE BAPTIZED!!!! JUNE 29tth!!! I was SSSSSSSOOOOOO stoked. I know that the Lord rewarded me for my diligence. I know that he rewarded me for being obedient. Things are always going up from here.

Anyway, I got to go. Just giving you the update. Miss you all! think about you and pray for you all day! I wear sunscreen dont worry! 

I will update you next time on how things are going! Keep me updated!

Much love from Maui! Shoots!

Elder Gleave

Week One: "Coming to you live from the MTC!"

Hey Gleave Clan!

 

First off thank you sop much for your letters and package. Everyday you get letters its like a mini christmas and you just get really excited to read them. It's funny at college Mom would text me and be like "went to Costco today and got samples" and I would just think "Oh well cool?" But now when I get your letters I just think to my self "TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR LIFE." So its good to get the daily update.

 

It's weird how fast everything is moving now. The first day was rough. So loooooooooooong. Literally we had 4 hours of "personal study" and 3 hours of class and two workshops all in the first day. It was insane. I was like just get me out of my dang classroom. The first lesson me and my companion taught was literally a disaster. It's like the teachers purposely set us to fail, then teach us what we have to do better right after so the lesson sticks.

 

My companion is the bomb. His name is Elder Langi and yes he's a poly. He's from South Jordan and is going to the U next year to play rugby. He literally knows every poly here. Theres like unspoken code between them and they just yell across the campus Togan phrases at each other. They will come up to Langi and be like "Haaayy Langi where you from?!" And there likes whats your name? "Oh Hi Im Elder Glea-" "Hey Langi you know this person that went to Bingham highschool?" Haha its like Im invisible to them hahaha. I dont care though I think its funny. He reminds me of Grandpa. He just falls asleep all the time sitting strait up in his seat. I kinda had to talk to him about that because it was happening literally ALL the time. Yesterday he prayed everyday before class so he wouldnt fall asleep and he didnt at all! Tender mercies I guess.  He's 18, so he doesnt have the most gospel knowledge out of the group but his testimony is incredible. Its like everytime we are teaching, I will talk to the investigator, get them to open up, find their needs, then Langi comes in with a spiritual punch. We are a deadly 1, 2 punch. No fake investigator stands a chance.

 

Thats mostly what we do now. We'll teach either our teachers pretending to be an investigator, or teach real converts that just pretend they are themselves before being baptized. Lucky, me and Langi got the two easiest investigators. Just kidding. We got the two hardest. And It sucked. The first person we taught was our teacher who was pretending to be a guy named Jacob. The people they are portraying are actually real, so they know how to act like how the person really would act. It's the weirdest thing, when we are role playing like that, it actually seems like they are real people! Like ACTUALLY are gators. So you can really feel the Spirit, like almost more than I've ever felt it before. Our first guy, Jacob, said he was going through some rough times because his house burned down, his car burned down, he has to stay at his friends place and ride his bikes to class. We were so ready to go teach and planned on teaching him about how God loves him and then we got in there and we were like so do you believe in God? and he was like well I tried praying him to once, and he didnt answer. and we were like uhhh...well... hahah we were so bad at teaching then. So lets just say our first lesson didnt go well. Funny thing is when then had a lesson on how to invite others to pray! Funny how that works. But then when went in the next lesson and we were talking to him about how he has to pray and why to pray and how to pray. When then invited him to pray right then and he was like, "well...I mean I dont know..." Then the Spirit just over came me and almost literally yelled at him and I was like, "Look. We can tell you that God is real. Your brothers (they were members) can tell you God is real. The who world can tell you God is real, but until YOU find out for yourself, youre never going to know if he's real." I was like wow wait stop gleave whats coming out of your mouth right now? You cant yell at an investigator! but then he prayed, and during his prayer he said he knew God exsisted all along. Even though it was role play, the spirit was insanely strong in that room. Since they are baised on people, we actually pray for them, pray for guidence on how to help them, and it seems like they are actual people. Its the weirdest thing. So we were working with Jacob the next few days, and we had a lesson that was not so spiritual. We asked him to read the BOM but we didnt really convince him to do it. So we checked the next day and he was like ohhh nooo i just got too busy. So that was frustrating. Unfortuanitly, he was being played by our teaching Brother Ferrin, who is an amazing teacher. But yesterday he told us he was assigned to a new district, and we couldnt teach him anymore. So yesterday was our last day with Jacob, and we just talked to him. We convinced him that he had to read the BOM and really really desire to know what it says and if its true. He told us that he he wasnt trying his hardest when he read and only did it because he knew we'd check if he did or not. We told him that unless he was going to try, he wasnt going to get anything out of it. He then told us he was worried about the rules our church has, and why we had to follow them. In class we learned about letting the spirt talk and just kinda stop thinking while you teach, and I had an answer chosen out and then I was like okay stop and just thinkg. And then I had a thought of dont say anything at all. And so I didnt. And Langi came in with a scripture that said basically you might not see the reward of your faith untill you try your faith. And that really hit him. I know that it was the spirit that told me to stop, and it was just a testiment on how much you have to rely on the spirit to teach. Turns out Jacob is Brother Ferrins brother, and he was incredibly inactive. He told us that Jacob was ridinng his motorcycle last year and he was going 195 mph and got pulled over and had to spend a week in jail. He said that he had been prompted to pray for JAcob to read the BOM, and when he heard that he went to jail he was like "what the heck?" Jacob had read the BOM a couple times before, butnever really commited to reading it earnestly, but after he got out of prison he called Brother Ferrin and told him he read the Book again and gained a testimony of it. HE has to wait to be rebaptized, but he recently got married and is striving to go to the temple with his wife. Pretty amazing story, right?

 

 My teachers are awesome! Sister Ruyon is an amazing teacher. I was like hi im elder gleave, im from littleton co. And she was like WAIT! Im from there! Talk about small world right? It's weird how much a mission can change someone because even though they are 22 years old, they are better teachers than I've ever had. Teaching the gospel is a lot harder than I thought, and they seem like pros at it. In class, they are such effective teachers, but they are able to bring the spirit so strongly. I have another teacher who only got back from his mission in december, but he seems like hes been teaching the gospel all his life. I feel like they are cheating they are so good at teaching, but I figure (hope) I will get to be as good as them. I mean from where I am now to where I was a week ago is seriously amazing. I learn so much everyday!! I mean when you have to teach you have to find their needs, you have figure out how to make a lesson to those needs, how to ask inspired questions to meet those needs, how to make them and actually love them, make sure they are using their free agency for good, get them to have a desire to read something thats not easy to read, and you have to do this all in less than 20 mintue lessons. It's literally the hardest thing ever.Okay not ever. but its hard. Ive taught 7 lessons so far and Ive barely gotten pass half the first discussion because we have spent all the time just trying to figure out their needs and getting them to trust us. Whether that makes me a bad missionary? I dont know. But what I do know is I'm a dang better missionary then I started.

 

Besides from teaching lessons, theres so many other spiritual experiences that we have. Im running out of time here so I will write you and tell you, but I just want you to know I'm so very happy. Ive grown closer to the lord here then Ive ever been. I love my district, my companion, and my teachers. I literally see so many people here! I saw three coming here to write this one being sister harper! Have yet to see Nathan but I'll keep an eye out for him. There is so much I want to tell you but I dont have enough time. So I will leave you with this:

I love you all. I miss you all. And Christ is our savior, he lived and died for me as well everyone else. He is my inspiration.

 

If this makes you sad just think about how the next time I will be writing you I will be in HAWAII!!!!

I love you all so very much.

I cant wait to here from you again!

Warmest Regards,

Elder Gleave

P.S. take out or leave in what you want for the blog. I dont care!