Been 6 months!!! Eternal Perspective

I've been out more than 6 months now.

THIS PHASE OF MY LIFE, is not the best one--just the best one so far in my whole entire existence yet, and it's also the one that is setting the trajectory of my entire whole existence and future ahead.

Who I am on my mission will determine who I will be for eternity.  I choose nothing other that what I have always chosen:  To Give it All ALL the way to the One who knows how to make it have no bounds or limits in its' potential and glorious breadth and passion, richness and depth.

Giving all makes it so you receive more than all!  His way is 1095723450834750234x more than worth it!!!

We're truly on earth for a reason.  And it's more glorious than we've ever hoped or fathomed.

Here is a drawing heavenly Father helped me draw this week.  

I drew it for someone here in the area we're working in.  Heavenly Father inspired my hand and my mind as He poured the picture out of my hand.

We come to earth with great divine worth.

We live in earth to prove ourselves worthy for His fullness.

We die to simply step back home and have Joy with our eternal families and our Savior Jesus Christ and beloved Heavenly Parents.

God loves us.  That's why He has provided us His plan.  I know His beautiful perfect gospel is true.  And it's all I choose to live for--and thereby I receive all and more than the best version/potential of my life.  Our choices are what this life is all about.  

So choose things that will most positively affect eternity.

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And here is the back of that drawing:

​Read this from God's living prophets today, for more: https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation

This  week, I had a full long conversation with a Japanese girl.  What was remarkable about that, was that we were both speaking fully in Japanese!! I am picking up every language heavenly Father wants me to progress in for His glory and the moving forth of the work of His restored fullness of truth.  I know this work is true and nothing can or will stop it.  I give my entire life for this work--yea, even my entire being I give, for with my entire being, I know the work is true.

I am missing no opportunities the Lord affords me daily.  I am not here to miss my potential and merely achieve a someness.  The Lord can enable each of us to fulfill the unbounded fullness that lies within our power--through His power (if we'll yield our wills and self, so we can then access it freely). 

Even when I have no time at all, He gives me time, and I use it.

No matter how painful and full of trails a day is, and no matter how many people are against me, or attacking me, or no matter how the elements themselves may hedge up the way, I turn to my Heavenly Father and He is my only support... and therefore His joys are all I have, and His ability and power and triumph in all things. 

I have come to know that we must cast all things out of our lives except Him as our only foundation.  And once we do that, then only He can affect us--and all other things in our existence only affect us for positive and joyful and progressive and blessings excruciating and unmeasured in happiness and glory!  As Children of God, He has grander things in store for us than this world can give--so this world is not worth having a bit invested therein.

Choose to drop anything in your life that keeps you from having Him as your only foundation.  Once you do that, then you have a power and joy that cannot be negatively affected by a single circumstance that every happens to you.

Your circumstances won't necessarily change, but you will only be affected positively by them, WHATEVER they be! :)

I am a living witness of this, so I must testify of it's validity.  And that it can only be found in His true, breathing and living church here on earth.

Choose to lift your eyes and you'll love any minute.  Your challenges are taking you higher.  I know it won't be easy, but you came here to earth to get stronger, so be joyful for mountains to climb!  Seek and ask for mountains to climb; ones that are FULLY out of your comfort zone! These things are going to make you better than before; better than you ever were before! 

This week, I got to sing a solo for many hundreds of people.  Heavenly Father blessed my voice to be magnified by Him for His purposes. 

This week, I will get my Fijian Drivers' License.  In driving Stick Shift for the nearly first time ever, and driving on the "wrong" side of the road, the Lord has magnified and blessed all my abilities!  I have been blessed to get the hang of it almost instantly!  I am going to be getting my license this week!  The gift of tongues and the gift of driving are both real ;)

When we run into people that want to marry us and have us take them back to America, we run away.  Yikes. 

This week, my companion and I were walking along sharing the gospel with two people, and I wasn't watching and almost fell down a big hole in the street. The Lord saved me by having the people we were taking to notice for me and almost scream and shout at me.  I was so thankful. I would have broken my leg at least.  The Lord is watching over us.

This week, we were walking along and somehow felt we should go to a bus stop we never go to.  We had only ever been there once before.  We chose to go there.  We got there, and even though there were people across the street and none where we were, we for the first time decided to not go over and share God's message with them.  Instead we stayed put and waited by ourselves.  As we stood there by the side of the road, soon came along a car with a young family.  They stopped and opened their window and said they were in frantic search of missionaries.  They said they are members of the church and were on vacation, and their son almost died with a dire sickness and had to be operated on and all their plans were ruined thereby.  They had been trying to find the missionaries in this foreign country, for a long time.  And now the Lord had put them on a wrong road they hadn't meant to turn on, and they saw us! 

The Lord had put us each in each other's path!  We were able to go to their hotel that night and give each one of them a blessing and heal the son and bless all the other members of the family with blessings from Heavenly Father, of comfort and counsel and love and direction and soothing.

Drop the crutches of being a child of this world, and rise up to your identity as a child of God.  Drop your crutches, and pick up wings.

Now is the exact time to do that.

I MEAN NOW.

noW.

Now.

now.

.

Only take steps that are painfully positive, and the ones you most don't want to do. For therein exactly lies your highest growth.  Ask for Him to enable you, and then step forward in faith to do, and you will be able to do absolutely literally anything He wills.

I learned this week that a boy in Koroipita (18yr old,) who we taught the other week, is now reading the Book of Mormon to his family and he is progressing beautifully and his testimony is growing wondrously!  He was doing it on his own initiative!  The Lord has prepared His people for His message, in every corner of ever village on the earth this present day. Open your mouth to everyone. 

I learned this week, that being humbled and corrected by the Lord is what makes and keeps us bearing fruit. (Progressing, reaching our potential, being close to Him, being our best self, being usable by Him, etc.,) And being prideful and not seeking His loving direction and chastisement and rebukes in our natural man weaknesses, keeps us from producing or bearing fruit, and our life is a waste and stagnant still.  This is a great key.  There is nothing so sweet as repentance and humbling ones self before the Lord.  For all His corrections are edifying and encouraging and to make us even as He is so we can have all He has and be all we can joyfully be in eternity and now.

Peace comes through accessing the Savior's Atonement. And there's no other lasting, true way.  You'll find that out the hard way or the easy way.  I invite the easy way be the one you choose today, even this day. Therein lies freedom from our burdens.

We have more people to teach here in this work, than we have time or means for.  They are seeking us out and we are flooded with them.  We are spread thin.  We have to only work with the ones the Lord most wants us to focus on now.  Right now, those ones are also bringing all their friends into the church and converting them to this joy and restored fulness of truth that is flooding literally the entire earth.

This week, Bobby Reddy was baptized!

This is Bobby.  

He is my hero.  

He has overcome more challenges than anyone I've seen.

This is him and his family just before his baptism.

And this picture is him triumphing over all his mountains that stood in his way getting to Baptism.  He is truly a miracle baby in the Kingdom of God.  He has become my new hero.  Indeed he has changed his life, and he will be a lifelong strong member.  I love this picture, because now he truly is the king of all his mountains.  Now he can begin building a glorious castle on his mountain.  He is also reaching for the iron rod (fence in the backround) in the picture.

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The Hindi program is going forth brilliantly in every way!  All mountains and walls are falling to the earth.  The God of all has given all His hindi children a flood release of gospel light.  Nothing  can stop this work from progressing.  I know the Lord has put me in this program; even foreordained me to it.  I am humbled to watch the joyful work that lies before all of us.

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While Bobby was making his promise with heavenly Father through baptism, and changing his life and forever leaving his burdens and sins and old self behind, I was washed over by the Spirit so strongly in every part of my heart!  I felt like it was my baptism!! When he came out of the water, I enthusiastically burst upon him and hugged him even though I was in Sunday clothes and he was sopping wet!  He bore his testimony and I couldn't contain it!  

My smile almost ripped my face.

  I need a body that can express more joy and enthusiasm!  Face more than ever, and soul more than ever was happy; tops ever!   Right when we walked in the door of our house that night, we fell down and praised the Lord with all we had!  Everyone was there to support Bobby!  He had his nonmember friends there and they were so affected.

Everyone felt it. 

He has changed, and we all desire to follow his example. I bore my testimony to him in English and then later in Hindi.  I know he will change the lives of thousands and that I will see Him in the Celestial Kingdom of God, and we will both hug each other even though then too we will be sopping wet--from all the sweat from climbing all the mountains of our mortal journey--and we will both be king of the mountain.  King of the mountains.  I know he will be a member who is forever and brings in countless others.  I got to sing for him with others at the baptism.  All the people who came, wrote on papers for him, their feelings and impressions and testimonies for him to keep and remember forever.   This is what I came to earth for.  I was foreordained to do this work with my Father.  To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man, with my Savior Jesus Christ and my Father in Heaven.  Their work is my work.  I have forsaken all else.  He has burst my heart and replaced it with His own.  That's what I came to earth to accomplish.  And now I'm ready to tackle all the eternities ahead.  Humility and prayer and the atonement's power is how. 

Category 5-H[appiness]!

One of the fastest and most exciting, most joyfully challenging, and happy weeks of my life so far!

Prepping for a Hurricane!

The category 5 hurricane was supposed to hit us. But category 6 faith from every family in this nation, rebuked the storm and God's hand moved it away from us, according to our faith and His will and purposes.

We spent a long time helping people anchor down their houses for the storm. And since we Elders have absolutely no access to news or radio, we just checked with Heavenly Father if it was okay for us to go out and work, and He told us to go out and work. So, we faced the winds and enjoyable rain, and because we did, we now have 2 more people who are going to be baptized!

The hurricane was supposed to come and wipe out our whole nation.  I received a promise from Heavenly Father, that I would live.  I continued my work in bringing my brothers and sisters to the Savior and the reward He has in store for them.  

The hurricane only rained and hit us while us missionaries were indoors!  It was amazing!  We went out into the storm, and it was rebuked by us.

The other night, our neighbors were singing and partying, and then we started praying to end the day, and they all got quiet and stopped without even being able to see or hear that we were praying, and then after we said amen, they started again!  Heavenly Father works miracles every minute.  Faith and action are the power.

The hurricane killed nearly 50 people in the path it did take.  We received no harm.

Pray for those dear families who were affected.  I know the Gospel will be given to them--I know that they will have the opportunity to hear the gospel and that the Atonement of Christ will indeed make everything that happened, for eternal good.  It makes all things more than right.  

Language: 

Hindi is coming along SO GREAT! The people here cannot believe how fast I am picking up the language.  They are so impressed--and it's a joy, because I get to then direct the credit right to where it belongs: to God!  The Gift of Tongues as known anciently, is real today in His living and true church.

My name in Hindi "Elder" and "Howard" Haha!  Howard looks like Elda! I was meant to come be an Elda in Hindi! :) 

Obedience:

This week, Heavenly Father taught me even more about obedience! I love it!

The main reason any mortal disobeys, is because they believe that conforming to anothers' will, will make it so they aren't their own individual person, with uniqueness and identity. If an idea or command doesn't originate in themselves, they immediately react with putting up a wall. We feel that in yielding, we lose our individuality and freedom and unique expression in life.

But the beautiful thing about obedience to God and Jesus Christ, is that, that is HOW WE GAIN our identity; it magnifies our finding out of who we really are--and in obeying, we choose to become the highest god-like version of ourselves. Obedience to Them IS freedom. It adds color and zest and richness and energy to every fabric of our identity. For when we choose to have our identity in Christ, the closer we come to Him, the more original, beautiful, unique, free, happy, fulfilled, joyful and boundless we are!

Come unto Christ and you won't lose yourself; you'll find your BEST self! That's the way obedience to Them works!

Obedience isn't the price... it's the joy! It's the way to joy!

The most important thing about obedience, is our motives and interests behind our being obedient.

Such leaving the world's muck behind and rising about that deplorable mire and actively deciding that as for us, we will "live the higher law as taught by Jesus Christ," then as Joseph says: you "[shall] be a select, ... separate from all the evils of the world--choice,virtuous, and holy."

Investigators and baptisms!!

I have gone on probably 30 different exchanges so far in my mission.  One this week was with the District Leader here.  While we were on exchanges, we had a lesson with one of our investigators, and miracles beyond our power ensued.

We walked in, and the father of this household, was sitting in the living room where we usually have our lessons and meetings, and he was smoking, drinking Grog/Kava, and then grabbed a beer.   But when we came in, slowly, little by little, everything changed as we petitioned Heavenly Father from our hearts.  The father got up on his own accord; he walked out and happily joined the mosquitoes outside!  We were free to begin teaching!  


This investigator is named Bobby.  He is one of my best friends.  I love him more than I can explain.  He is changing from the inside out.  He is committed to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, into the waters of Baptism, and be baptized by one holding the Priesthood Authority directly from God Himself, and make a covenant with his Father in heaven.  That will be one the 29th of this month.  Before then, he has committed to stop smoking, and stop drinking coffee and tea and bear, for ever.  For the rest of his life. 

Tonight, we met with him, and he started out being more or less energetic and present.  But as we went on, we discussed his plan to quit smoking.  He told us that at work this week, he was working and all his friends were in a group smoking, and they invited him to join them.  They tried to convince him, and he stood up to all of them, with love and light in his eyes, and said, "No.  I won't do that.  I have decided I want to change my life.  I'm leaving that behind.  I want to be Baptized, and to change my life."  They asked if he is sure.  He said, "Yes.  This is something I want to do.  I'm absolutely sure."

His friends were inspired and surprised.

He is amazing!

We told him we wouldn't move on with the lesson, until we had a written plan with him of how he was going to quit smoking--permanently.  He's going to fill his life with positive things--for that's the only way to flood out darkness; by filling out all your being with only light so there's no room for darkness.  For light will always be more powerful than darkness.  The smallest candle is more powerful than a world of the darkest dye and hue.

As we continued with our lesson with him, slowly,for the first time, all the several TV's were all turned off (usually they're all blasting horrid things).  All the people in the house started to be mysteriously drawn away from their various tasks in which they were engaged, and left the house.  The seemed suddenly and subtley called away to do errands outside. 

We were talking about the Priesthood authority and power that Created this earth and all worlds, and sustains and governs all the creations of the Almighty.  We were talking about how in this church, the Lord Himself has committed this same power and authority to man in His kingdom in these last days, and that this power can heal the sick, cause miracles, give added power and strength to those who need it, and give counsel and advice directly from God the Father through the direction and inspiration of His holy Spirit upon a worthy Priesthood holder whenever a child of God requests a blessing. 

Bobby requested such a blessing.

Interestingly enough, to our surprise, by the time Bobby asked for this blessing from our hands and for his added ability to lose the desire to smoke and replace it permanently with positive habits and lifestyles--once he asked us to give him this blessing, the house was empty and quiet for the first time. 

We closed the front door of the house, and set a chair in the middle of this humble home, and proceeded to give a Priesthood Blessing in the name of Jesus Christ. 

This blessing was filled with power.  We could feel peace and purity and light and love from our Father in Heavenly, in the very air.  There seemed to be a subtle, yet powerful aura of  power and energy around us.  Beautiful words flowed from heaven, through my companion's mouth.  Things directly from Bobby's loving, eternal Father. 

The amazing and striking thing was that right as we closed the blessing and ended it, all the members of the household began to be drawn back to the house.  They pulled back in and began to walk toward the door.  We opened the door right up, and as they opened it at the same time, things picked right back up to the busy and loud way they usually are in that house!

Then we taught a lesson about Faith in Jesus Christ and how it is the motor to every good thing in our lives.  Without it, we go in circles and make it nowhere and don't progress.  And we taught about Repentance.  Repentance is the way to joy.  The call to repentance is always uplifting and encouraging.  God invites us to just come up and leave our old sad ways and lose all the pain and guilt of the past.

While we were teaching, Elder Hendrickson (District Leader I was on exchanges with,) was thinking in his head, "I wish that Danzel was here.. *one of his investigators*...these are things that would really benefit him to hear."  Right when he finished thinking that, Danzel and his brother walked in!  They'd never come to this house before This was the first time!  They joined the lesson because they had no food at their house, and came here because they were hungry and were invited by Bobby's brother.

The blessing for Bobby worked!  Bobby hasn't smoked since, and there is an incredible light about him.  He is being prepared by the Almighty, to enter into a new life through the water's of Baptism. 

He is Hindi.  We have lots of jokes and personal inside jokes in Hindi which we laugh about.  We have such a strong relationship.

He is coming to church every week.

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Soni and Kirti are some of our other investigators.  They have been Hindu all their lives, but now they are Christian and are committed to taking up a new life in Baptism next month on the 19th!  They say that in all their years as Hindu, not one prayer was ever answered, and they received no happiness.  Even in other Christian preachers, they felt nothing; but with us, they saw blessings in their lives and felt happiness they'd never known.  All their prayers are truly astoundingly answered, and they are seeing incredible blessings in every single day since we started coming and teaching them.  

Three Languages...and counting!!!

​Last week I was speaking in 3 languages every hour of the day.  Pretty much, I think in 3 languages.

This week, I'm picking up 2 more languages.
I'm learning Japanese and Rotuman. 
But these aren't languages I have been called to officially teach and share in.  I have just started picking them up on my own initiative because I am fueled by the absolute knowledge that as a son of personal and literal heavenly Father, I have no limits at all.  I can reach my fullness of unbounded potential.  I can help more people by knowing more languages.  I'm here in Fiji to touch every individual Heavenly Father can possibly use me to bless in any way or degree fathomable--nothing less; possibly more.  

The Hindi people are so surprised and impressed by how well my companion and I speak Hindi.  We have truly been given the very real Gift of Tongues spoken of in the Scriptures, and by prophets ancient and modern.  I know the Lord is the reason.  He is the power.  He is my best and most constant friend.

I truly believe that by the end of this month, I will be able to teach entire lessons about the Purpose of Life and the Restored fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and all the truths of Eternity, the Plan of Happiness, all in just Fiji-Hindi.  Not English.

The Lord is supporting me in this inspired goal I have.  To show it, He caused something to happen to my English badge the other day.  I picked it up and somehow the words had been melted and distorted! I was very surprised!  That only happened to my English badge though! Haha!  It's a deep message. :)  Goodbye English!!!

Just kidding--I'm pretty sure I'll still be able to communicate with everyone when I come home.  If not, I'll just speak through my drawing and singing.  No worries.

I got a virus on my camera that made it so all my pictures I've taken on my whole mission so far, were all gone.  I was just happy.  I turned it right immediately over to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and He sent it back to me as a blessing because I had the instant faith to hand it right over to Him.  My happiness is beyond the reach of anything to uproot or tarnish or take even a degree away.  My happiness, joy, peace and progress in my existence of thrivety, are like a virus themselves!!! Nothing can stop them and they've hacked my whole life down to the very smallest aspects and details.

This is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ does!  It gives us  a happiness that the world cannot give you any of; and that the world therefore cannot take away even a degree of--because the world didn't give it to you! :) 

After this, then my companion and I were happily talking about it, and he told me that all my files are actually all still there. It's a common virus in Fiji, that just makes it so they're all hidden and the computer doesn't actually show them.  They're all still there!  Yay! But that's not why I'm happy.  I'm happy because I have something more valuable than all the most beautiful pictures anyone could ever have  of the most precious memories imaginable--I have a joy and happiness and depth of purpose and meaning that surpasses all thing this world possesses or highest has ability to offer!

I possess something that surpasses all things in this world.  I possess a fullness of truth directly from my Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ!It's simply the reason for happiness.
It's simply the reason for every good thing.

Building a house!

The other day, for service, WE DID SOMETHING THAT CHANGED MY LIFE. (Every week, we do service to help and make people's lives happier and easier.  Anything from yard work, errands, cleaning, uplifting, singing for, laughing with, etc., to BUILDING ....)

WE BUILT A HOUSE!

At least, we're helping with the beginning stages of building a house. 

We helped!  We uplifted!  I sang for everyone and got them all singing!  We threw mud at each other!  I did flips in the mud!  I got almost completely buried underground!  I loved it!  We played in the mud!  I got my very favorite shirt all the way as muddy as humanly possible!

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I'm half buried in the mud.  My legs are completely underground.  My hairstyle is the heaviest I've ever tried before!  My neck got quite a workout just playing in the mud with that on my head!  You can either shy away from the work and mud we're here on earth to work in and through, or you can make a party out of everything!  Life is as happy as we are toward it!  Make a choice and then just make a mud afro!!!

From this great experience, I determined once  and for all that when me and my best friend, angel, eternal, beautiful, wonderful wife get married and start our family, I want us to build our own home with our own hands!  I'm going to dance in the mud with her and with our children, and we won't just be building a house we'll appreciating so much more for having done it ourselves, but we'll be building an eternal family that we appreciate so much more because of the ridiculously fun and joyful challenges we face together!

I love the Fijian way!
I love the Indian way!
I love the Japanese way!

These are my way now!

I love Heavenly Father's way!  I love the Savior's joyful path He's paved and prepared for all who will to walk unto Everlasting Life and Exaltation and Fullness of Joy and Deep, Lasting Happiness!

This is my way eternally!

Life is POSITIVELY unfair!

When I was a child, I was told that life is unfair.  As an adult now, I've learned that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ (and if we'll have the faith and confidence to access it's wondrous power,) it's unfair IN OUR FAVOR.  LIFE BECOMES POSITIVELY UNFAIR. :) No matter what comes your way, the Atonement switches around for your good, gain and joy!

I suppose this isn't news, since it's always the case, but it's nonetheless true:  I'M ABSOLUTELY THRIVING!

And the reasons remains the same as well:
BECAUSE
1) It's impossibly difficult!! Therefore it's inexpressibly joyful
2) It's out of my comfort zone, therefore living in the fullness of my godly potential
3) I actively CHOOSE JOY,
4) My Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ personally give me Their enabling and strengthening power whenever I humbly ask for it.
5) I have given the Lord literally everything; and have held back absolutely literally nothing.

We are teaching police officers, people that everyone thought would never change or be teachable, children of God.  They are progressing unbelievably well!!!

We have two people that will be Baptized this month, and both are doing great!!!! Miracles I wish I had time to describe!!!!! 

6 of the people we are working with, came to church on Sunday!  I spoke in church.  I am singing a solo again for 1000's of people in a week from now.  We're seizing literally every opportunity Heavenly Father gives us!