Week 37: Well...That Escalated Quickly

Hello Family,

So it's been a crazy week. Like really quite weird. So on Wednesday, I arrived at my new area to meet my new companion. He's super funny. Just this short, stalky wrestler/hunter who loves joking around. I love him. But anyway, he just came from Kona, so we were both new in the area. Well, when we got there, we didn't have a phone, we didn't have a map, we were completely lost. It was pretty amusing actually! That night we went to bed and we didn't have a phone, so I thought to myself, "If anything happens, we won't have a phone to call for help, we don't have a car (oh yeah btw I'm in a walking area), and we have no idea where the nearest gas station is. We're done for." Luckily, we made it through the night without anything bad happening, but since then there has been some crazy things happening. I'll label them in bullet points so you can easily follow my train of thought. 

1) Thursday, Elder Humps and I were walking down the street, completely lost . We had no idea where we were going. So I was like, "Let's go down this street". After a while, we noticed a dude walking behind us, and he comes up to us and is like, "Why did you decide to go on a mission?" And it was weird because that's what my comp and I were talking about before he asked us. And then we told him, then the next thing he asked was, "What are the steps for joining your church?"...Well that escalated quickly. So we walked with for about 45 mintues, and we were like, well we'd like to meet up with you again soon. And he was like, "How about tomorrow?" and so we agreed, and we told him that we were going to teach him about the Plan of Salvation, and he was like "Can I start now?" and so we taught him some, and he was the most solid investigator I've ever talked to.  My companion and I were like, "This is stupid. It can't be this easy. It never happens." And then so we went back the next day and taught him the rest of the POS along with almost everything about the church, and he agreed to a baptismal date. He was then like, "I don't want to go home. Can I see your church?" So we took him there, and he like, "Man I like this." And my comp and I were seriously considering that we got punked. That he was a return missionary messing with us. But we focused on a few things during our lesson: POS, service, the Atonement, doing work in this life, and eternal familes. Well on Sunday, he came to church. We were like, "No way, this is too good to be true." THEN at church, the three talks at sacrament were on the POS, service, and the Atonement. THEN the Sunday school lesson was on doing work, THEN the Elders Quorum's lesson was on eternal families. It was weird. It was like everyone in church was playing a giant prank on me. He told us as he was walking out, "It feels like Heavenly Father has been talking to me all day today. I feel like I'm walking on air." 

2) Right when Elder Humphreys and I became companions, the first thing he says to me was, "Oh, by the way, I was teaching a guy in Kona, and he came to Oahu becuase his mom has cancer. He wants to be baptized., so we might have a baptism here any second." On Friday, he calls the kid, and the guy was like, "I don't want to wait till I'm back in Kona. I want to be baptized here. You're here. I've prayed about it, I want to be baptized tomorrow. You call your people, I'll call my people. Let's get the ball rolling. Let's do this."...That escalated quickly... All he wanted at his baptism was his Mom, the branch president of the Tongan branch, and us with another set of missionaries. So we called the Tongan branch president and we were like, "Hey, we have a baptism tomorrow." Anyway, we had a baptism at 8 pm that night, and only seven people were there. It was crazy! He is 6 foot 5 in, and we couldn't find a suit that would fit him, so my comp gave him his white pants. The bad news is my comp is 5 foot 6, so they came up to his mid calfs on him. Plus the water drained a little so it was only to his knees, so when we baptized him, we had to have him lay down while he was in the water so he'd be completely under. Regardless, it was one of the most spiritual baptisms I've been to. 

3) We were visiting all the people on our part-member list, and we came up to the last house before we were going to dinner. the kids were like, "ELDERS!" and went and got their dad. So this HUGE Hawaiian bruddah with no shirt on, tatted up, walks out and was like, "Hey Elders, I thought you were coming at 6. why are you here now?" (So there are four missionaries in this ward now, and there was one who had been there before me and my comp came in. And so he was referring to their lesson with those elders at 6, but this family was in our area so he should technically be ours.) "Oh, well we didn't know." "Oh, you're not the other guys, Where are the other missionaries. Tell them we are meeting at 6! We have to start the lessons for baptism." "Wait, who's getting baptized?" "My kids!" So long story short, all four of us went over and taught his kids and set them up with a baptismal date. 

4) There is an awesome Hawaiian guy who lives below us, and we introduced ourselves to him our first day. a few days later we went up and talked to him while he was waiting for the bus. he was like, "Hey Elders!" We talked to him for a little and then we noticed that he had a "Island Air" shirt on and we were like, oh do you work for an airline? "Yeah. I can get you buddy passes so you can fly to any of the islands for free if you guys want." ...Well, that escalated quickly... We've only met him once and he wants to give us free airline tickets. 

Well all in all, from the span of Thursday to Sunday, we got three people with baptismal dates, baptized a future missionary, and free tickets to any of the Hawaiian Islands. You could say it's been an interesting week. If you've made it to this point, you're probably sick of reading my Email, but I just want to say that I know this work is real. That God lives. And that the church is true. I hope you are all enjoy this weather as much as I am! haha jk 

LOVE YOU ALL!

Elder "I'm not sure if that's his body or a potato with a head" Gleave

Week 36--Out with the Old; In with the New

To all my favorite couples out there, I wish you a most sincere Happy Valentine's Day.

As for me, I'll stick with my ever-deepening relationship with food.

I hope all is going well! I heard the Browns made it to Colorado! It's awesome whenever people from the mission connect with people from home. Speaking of people of mission people and home people connecting, Jun Son, Elder Son, who served in Colorado came home from his mission and gave his homecoming talk. So he saw me give my farewell talk when he was a missionary, and I saw him give his homecoming talk when I'm a missionary. Very cool experience. We talked a lot about Colorado. He says he misses Texas Road House and Garlic Knot. I DON'T BLAME HIM.

I only have a little bit of time because I'm going out to lunch with Jacob and he is on his way now, but just wanted to give you guys a heads up: IM BEING TRANSFERED. I'm going to Ewa Beach 2nd ward in the Waipahu stake. I'm really excited. I'm sad I am leaving the city, I have grown to love it, but I am excited about new adventures.

We have been teaching this couple who is homeless, and they sleep by the church. The Dad is a LA member who was innactive for 34 years and decided to come back a month ago, and the wife is a non-member. We gave her a Book of Mormon last week, and she hasn't put it down since! They seem so much happier ever since we've started teaching them. On Friday, we had a dinner drop off, so people just gave us some dinner plates, and we decided to bring it to them and have dinner with them. Even though we were on the ground, eating with some homeless people, I felt the spirit so strong and it was probably my favorite dinner. I LOVE THE CHURCH.

Something that makes me sad about leaving is having to leave the Fitzgerald family. It's a family we've been teaching and we go over every week to eat diiner with them. I've really grown to love them and I am going to be sad when I have to miss their baptism. Oh well, I just feel blessed I get to teach them!

One upside about serving in the city is how tight you become with the homeless people. They LOVE missionaries! It's so awesome! They may be the craziest people to talk to, but who doesn't need a little a crazy in their life? Now that I think about, people probably think I'm a little crazy...side effects of being stuck with the same person for 6 weeks 24/7 and having a diet that consists of nothing but rice and fast food.

I'm sorry this email isn't creative or funny or that spiritual. I recently really have been enjoying 2nd Nephi 4. So if I could leave you with a message about Jesus, it's don't let your past sins burden you and bring you down. Lift your hearts and rejoice in Christ! If you are stuck in the past, you can't progress to the future. "The past is to be learned from, but not to be lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences, but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future." --Jeffery R Holland.

I love the gospel, and am thankful for my Savior. I'm going into my 7th transfer, that means I only have 10 more to get people into this church! I wish it'd never end.

WELL, I hope cupid is kind this Valentine's day. LOVE YA'LL

LOVE

Lover Boy Gleave

Week 35--Pre-Valentines Lovin

Yo what's up family! 

First off, weird story at church this week. There was a guy who just came home from his mission from New Zeland in the ward I'm in, and we were in Elder's Quorum and he told us that he served in three missions because of visa Issues. So I was like "Oh what missions?" "I started in Colorado Denver South." "Oh did you serve in the Ken Caryl area?" "Oh yeah, I served in that ward. With the Bishop who has that...daughter? (HAHA MCKAE! Of course that's all he remembers) And drives the beamer?" "WHAT. THAT"S MY HOME WARD." His name is Jun Son, I guess Elder Son. But he was there during the three weeks when I was home between college and my mission. He said we met, but I don't remember meeting him. That shows you how good of a member missionary I was back home. oops. ANYWAY. That was weird! Plus I met two other people who served in the Denver South Mission this week too! Maybe its time for me to go home. ha nope! I love the mission too much! 

It's been pretty rainy here lately. I love it. It feels like it's FINALLY fall. Too bad its suppose to be winter. Everyone is cruising around in jackets and pants and it's 65 degrees outside. My comp is always walking around and saying, "ITS SO COLD." Ha. You don't even know cold. 

Things I've been missing of late

1) Mariah Carey and Beyonce

2)Yelling in public

3) Cruising 16th street mall

4) Dance parties

On a mission, random memories come to your head and you're just like, "Shoot. I miss that." But then you think about how short the mission is and you're like, "Shoot. That can wait. I GOTTA GO TEACH." 

I've realized that at the beginning of my mission, I viewed the mission as like one big sacrifice. But slowly, and I can't tell you when this happened, I realized that a mission is just one great privilege. I'm not sacrificing ANYTHING import, besides maybe a wedding and family time, that isn't worth the lessons I've learned, the people I've met, and the growth I've experienced. A mission, as much as sometimes I don't want to admit it, is the BEST thing that has ever happened to me. 

So there is this family we've been working with here. They are incredibly the best. They came to church this week! During gospel principles, we were learning about the creation, and the teacher asked, "How does God's creation show that he loves us?" And the Dad raised his hand and said, "Well, besides maybe a few things, everything in the world is super awesome." That's just the way he is. Well, I hope I can set them up with a baptismal date before I leave! BTW, transfers are a week from Wednesday, and President told my comp he's training, so there's a good chance I'm leaving. I will keep you updated. 

This week, a Marshellese lady came up to us in Goodwill and told me that she use to meet with the missionaries in Marshall Islands, and wanted to meet with us in Hawaii. Unfortunately, there is a ward that is marshallese speaking, so we had to refer her to them, but the sisters told me just now that she is the Queen of Marshall islands. Pretty cool...

GOTTA GO.

LOVE YA DON'T LET THE DONKEYS GET YA DOWN

Elder Old LEgs Gleave

Week 34: Trails, tales and emails

HEYO FAMILY! 

One more week in paradise. You know, lots of swimming, surfing, tanning on the beach, drinking virgin alcoholic drinks. That's the life! Just kidding we don't do that. We actually do this: walking, sweating, hand shaking, and food eating. Lots of all those! 

So in case if the beginning of me email wasn't proof enough, and including the grammar in this sentence, I am incredibly tired. So please bear with me. The reason I am so tired is because this morning, I gathered with some of the more fit Elders to climb something called Koko Head. Basically, it is a giant mountain, where at the top they have a military bunker, which was probably used for radio communication. Anyway, it is suppose to be for a tram-like structure that runs on tracks, but since it is retired, everyone just uses the tracks as a hiking trail! I just read a review on the hike and it went a something like this, "It wasn't really a hike, more like a stair master from Hell." Apparently, it is something like 1,000 steps? Yeah, you could say my out of shapeness is catching up to me. No more McDonalds and hot dogs for me. But the view was AMAZING. Totally worth it. 

This week was quite the week! Me and the Fijian decided we were going to teach as many lessons as we could. And so we just went out and busted our butts. Long story short, to release any pent up anticipation built from that last sentence, we got 17 lessons. Now that's not a whole lot, but it is the most I've ever gotten on my mission! So that was a win. Working hard is really quite rewarding in itself. 

On Sunday we were late to Sacrament because we had to walk one of investigators to church. We got there for the second half and he was like, "Ya'll got me to church. I ain't gonna sing. I'm no singer. Ya got me to the first step but that's it!" I was feeling a little bit sly and was about to tell him the only way he could join our church was by singing a solo in front of everyone, but I decided I better not mess with his salvation so I held off. 

The mission is full of lots of ups and downs, in fact many in one day, and I've just decided that no matter what happens I am just going to be happy with the circumstances and trust in the Lord. Often times during the week I'm worried that this person isn't progressing, or im not teaching the right thing, or I'm not doing the right thing, but I decided just to do my best, and the Lord will work through my inadequacies. As always though, I feel extremely blessed to be a missionary. 

Hope all is well! 

Better than my legs at least

Elder "Koko Headed" Gleave

Week 33--Life of a City Boy

          Hi,

FIRST OFF, gotta give a shout out to the Brown family. Only the coolest cats on the Island of Oahu. For those who don't know, I met them on the North Shore, and we quickly became family. A very large portion of the person I am now, especially in a spiritual sense, have quite a bit to do with them. I will be forever grateful for the example they were to me. ANYWHO, the reason I'm giving them a shout out (like a shout out in Gleave's email is such a big deal anyway) is that they called me this past week and said they are moving to Misery. I mean Missouri. But this left me with a sort of bittersweet feeling. I'm sad because we won't be in the same state anymore, but I'm excited because they will be closer to Colorado and Utah when I get home. And since I am the localist of all local boys, I would like say for the Island of Oahu and the State of Hawaii, Aloha and Mohalo. You will be missed! 

Okay, well sorry I didn't write yesterday! I had a very important appointment with the big man today at the house of the Lord. That's just a semi-creative way to say I went to the temple. Anyway, so today is our P-day! So you get Tuesday Gleave instead of Monday Gleave. The temple was amazing as always! It never ceases to amaze me at how calm I feel during and after the temple. It always helps to put things in a more of a eternal view rather than a temporal view. 

It's weird, tomorrow I've been out 8 months of my mission. It's very bitter sweet. That means its only 16 more months till I get to see you guys, but also that means I have only have 16 more months. In some respects, I never want it to end. I never want to quit the mission.

There was a lot of fun things that happened this week! We went to go do service at the Battleship Missouri. We swept a section of the ship called "Broadway" because it is the longest corridor on the ship. I felt like I was an old time seaman. A part of me wishes I were alive during the Second World War. I have always been partial to that time period, and even though it was terribly devastating, I have such incredible respect for them. Actually, last week while I was writing my email, the father of my Bishop here came up to talk to me. He is in his 90's and an amazing person. He was born in Hawaii, but his parents were from Okinawa, an island off the coast of Japan. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, people became suspicious of him, and so they sent him in a concentration camp here in Hawaii. After all their hard work and desire to serve in the military, the US government decided to organize them into the army. Indeed a very incredible story.

That's the best thing about missions, just meeting the different people and hearing their stories.  People's stories that I'm not too interested in are ones about Vegan food. I went to a Vegan restaurant and it was not fun. It literally was traumatizing. Ew. No.

Our family that we've been teaching came to church this week! I can only imagine the hardship of switching from Catholic Mass everyweek to Mormon Sacrament Meeting, but you gotta do what you gotta do for the restored gospel. To fellowship with them, we went to the Bishop Museum with them. We rode there, in the Dad's own terms, "Ghetto-rigged bikes", which was fun because it was Elder Cagilaba's first time really riding a bike. When we got back he was like, "Oh Bro, my mind is like addicted to riding bikes." Haaa....okay Cagilaba. At one point I thought he had crashed but in reality his hat had just flown off and he was going back to get it. The museum featured a lot of really neat ancient Hawaiian artifacts. The dad knew all these awesome facts so it was like having your own tour guide. Fun day.

WELL GOOD NEWS IS THE DONKEYS ARE IN THE SUPERBOWL! I always try to get the score on Sunday cuz I'm so excited to hear who won, but it'

s just not the same as watching it. I wish I could see it! Sacrifices Gleave...Sacrifices...

Well anyway, I hope all is well with my various friends all over the world. I miss you all so dearly and pray for you always! Hope the Puppy Bowl is a good one this year!

Your favorite missionary,

Elder "Did he just dunk?" Gleave

Week 32--Dogs, Lawyers and the Emergency Room

Bula!

That's hi in Fijian. Courtesy of my companion. This week has been super stellar! It feels like so much happened and that it all couldn't fit into one week, but somehow it did. Here's something I noticed about writing in my journal, and I guess it applies to writing emails as well. In the scriptures, it says that Nephi could only write 1/100th of what actually happens to him, and that's what I feel! So much happens from Monday to Sunday, that it's hard to get everything down. I always feel like I haven't written enough! That's okay, I guess I just have to be choice in what I write down. 

So a couple of really, really awesome things happened this week. On Thursday, while we were walking around, my companion and I stumbled on a couple of doggie-get-togethers! It was a dog-o-poolza. I'm not sure what they were for, but I'm not sure I care. All I know is both me and the pooches were having a good time! 

On Sunday, the family we have been really trying to work with came to church! It was the first time that they went to a Mormon church, and after both of the parents spent their whole lives in another church. Transitioning to a different church, let alone a Mormon church must be quite the experience. But I think they liked it! But the joy of seeing the whole ward gather around a family to help them have a good spiritual experience was a big testimony builder of how amazing the Saints are. It brought such joy to my heart. It was pretty funny though, because the dad is a lawyer, so he is incredibly smart. You could just tell his brain was processing all the comments, looking for faults, and absorbing every little detail. Overall though, other than some pretty deep doctrinal questions, I think he enjoyed it! I guess we will find out on Thursday, so stay updated! It's a blessing to see the fruits of my labor.

On Tuesday, we were eating dinner and finished around 8pm. I had just read an 

Ensign article and I decided I had better go out and see if we could talk to someone for an hour. So we were walking down the street and we stumbled upon one of our more...eccentric members, Shaloha guy, and he was asked us, "Elders! Do you perchance have a moment of time?" "Uh...yeah sure!" "Okay. There's someone at the hospital I need you to meet." In my mind, I was thinking score! A new investigator. We hopped on the bus, which was the first time I have ridden the bus that late, and headed over to the emergency room. When we got there, one of his Aunties had been in there and he brought us over and was like, "Do you want to talk to the Elders?" "No. I study with the Jehovah's Witnesses" Which isn't a bad thing, but we usually only try to talk to people who are interested because we don't want to force them into the gospel. But the member was persistent. "I think you should listen to them. Your life is not in a good place and they have what you need!" "NO. I study with the Jehovah's Witnesses I'm a grown woman I don't need their advice!" So by now, everyone in the emergency room is watching us and let's just say it was a most uncomfortable situation. Then the member suggested to say a prayer! WHAT. Don't get me wrong again, I absolutely love saying prayers, but not when a whole emergency room of people are staring at me and they lady wants no part in the prayer. So imagine this situation: Two mormon missionaries, a Jewish-looking man, and a very irritated homeless lady all in an intense argument about Jehovahs and Mormons. To make matters worse, my companion and I couldn't decide who would say the prayer, so he whips out a pen and throws it into the air as some weird spin the bottle thing to see who would say it. If you ask me, it was pointing to Elder Cagilaba, but he swears it was pointing to me. So I just went ahead and said it. So awkward.  I can imagine Heavenly Father was getting a chuckle at the whole situation. But when we got home, the ZLs called us with two referrals, so I know that the Lord blesses you for enduring through trials. 

Funny stories aside, this week has been a very good week to grow closer to my Savior and Father. On a mission, he constantly puts his hand into your life, and I am certainly blessed to be a part of it. I am a tool in his hand. I love Jesus. 

Got to get going, but I love you all! Miss you so much!

Elder Top Dog Gleave

ps I pet my first sheltie since Jake. It was good to see some!

Week 31: New Year, No Fear

Hey guys. 

So I was pretty proud of that title of the email. I've been trying to think of a really creative one all week, and so that's the best I got. It's weird to think about that I'm going to be spending an entire YEAR of only being missionary. Like 2014? Dedicated only towards preaching the gospel. Sounds exciting to me. So my new companion, Elder Cagilaba (but it's pronounced "Than-gee-lam-ba") is so awesome. All he wants to do is work and be obedient. I was like, "Those are all my favorite things to do...EVERY. SINGLE. DAY" (Nacho Libre reference). So that's what we are doing. Working hard and being obedient. Every single day! It's been like a breath of fresh air being with him. If you don't mind, I'm going to forgo talking about me for a second and tell you his story. 

So he is from Fiji. He was born Catholic. In Fiji, respecting your ancestors is very important, so Elder Cagilaba asked his Dad which was the first church established on the Earth. His Dad said Roman Catholic. And so he spent the first 15 years of his life Catholic. One day he came home to find two guys in white shirts teaching his brother about a church. He went into his room and laid on his bed, but eavesdropped on their conversation. Two points hit him very hard: 1) Families can be together forever. He loves his family and the prospect of being with his family forever was to hard to pass up. 2) The Church of Jesus Christ was established on three foundations: 1. Prophets 2. Apostles 3. Jesus Christ himself. He then became interested in the Church and three months later he was baptized. Fast forward a few years, and he brought the gospel to his two younger brothers. Fast forward six months ago, and the Fiji mission was short a few Elders and so he was called to be a mini missionary for a month. Turns out they needed him for six months. So ever since he was baptized he tried again and again to teach his parents about the restored gospel of Christ. But they wouldn't listen. Well he went home for a few weeks after his mini mission and was about to prepare for his full-time mission and his parents told him that they read the Book of Mormon he gave them and wanted to take the lessons and be baptized. So a week before he left on his mission he baptized his parents. Now they are waiting for him to get home so they can go to the temple! Such an amazing story. You should hear him tell it in his Fiji accent. A lot cooler sounding. Anyway, with a testimony like, how could you not love the guy? 

We are doing super well here. Miracles are happening all around us! Funny story, the other day we were walking down the street and a guy was like "Hey man, can I use your phone? Mine's dead." Sure. So he talked for a couple minutes and then gave it back and was like thanks man, I just got out of prison and my phone isn't charged. haha ohhh okay!  And so then we separated ways. Well like three minutes later the phone rings and a lady was like, "Hello is Miguel there?" Uhhh...no but there's a Cagilaba? "I just got a call from this phone?" Ohhh! No sorry we went different ways. "Who is this that I'm talking to?" Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ. "Oh. BRING MY SON TO CHURCH." So we got her address and we are going to teach him next week! hahah missionary lyfeee.

Well got to go! Hope you have all set some new year's weight loss goals cuz I for sure have. Let's be successful together? Okay. Well a hui ho!

Much Love,

The Prince of New Years

Elger Dleave