Soni and Kirti were confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ!!!
They are a part of His eternal kingdom now, and on Sunday they received the Holy Ghost! The experience of being Heavenly Father's direct channel of giving them the Holy Ghost, ranks as one of the highest spiritual and supernaturally joyful experiences of my life, and certainly my mission so far.
What a joy the work of sacrifice is.
When we are young, we have energy and time but no money.
When we are adults, we have energy and money but no time.
When we are elderly, we have money and time, but not as much energy.
Only during a mission do we have all three given to us bountifully by the Lord's miraculous and day-to-day providing.
But only for 2 years.
My time is more than 1/3 passed for this mission.
I will not come short of any of its potential--in fact, Heavenly Father is reaching me and teaching me to over reach and smash all its potential by a hundred times.
I am focused. More than at hardly any other previous time in my eternity. The Lord works through me as if I had stepped out of the way and just watched Him move and speak and act. I am eternally and lastingly magnified and changed.
Remember the conscious mind can only focus on one thing at a time (so they say,) and so I challenge you to only choose a positive thought! ^_^ Make always "I Will," my mentality.
The Spirit is more clear to me than any of my other senses. I have tapped into how Heavenly Father speaks to me, and my only rule of life is to be one with my Father in DOing His will. I am in the path of the most trials--and therefore I am on the path that climbs the highest, because the Lord magnifies my abilities to face every trial and turn it only into a positive and a joy. I have bent all my other senses and nature to bow to what the Holy Ghost tells me. I have discovered a realm of existence that is with Jesus Christ and my Father. It is humbling and makes my heart melt seeing how everyone is invited to this place and we will all reach it if we choose it.
There is a Fijian family here that is going to be baptized! I acted on a prompting to talk to a certain person, and because of that one small prompting, this family got taught the gospel and met the missionaries, and they have embraced it and are all sacrificing everything and dropping all to follow Christ to His restored fullness of truth. The mother was a 7th Day Adventist, and was hardening her heart against the missionaries, but then changed one day and decided she is going to be baptized. She has been coming to church! It is great to watch the Lord work in finding His children whose hearts have chosen to be ready and embrace the truth that has come to the earth for the Last Time before the 2nd coming.
The other day we were walking along (since our car is gone,) and my companion was prompted to go down a street I have never even noticed before, and we walked across a bridge and passed a house that the Spirit told me held people the Lord had great plans for. We walked past the house, and a man ran out of the house chasing after us and calling out to us to come back. We turned around and began talking with him. His name was Paul. He said that he had nieces and nephews that used to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and that they are ready to start coming back. We got their information and they would be back after school.
The Lord puts us where we need to be
as we put Him where He needs to be: (First in our life)
Obedience
Sacrifice
Consecration
3 words I hope God will see as memorializing each of our lives.
These are the words that bring joy.
These are what we should live for--they are how Christ lived and lives.
I am not just preparing to go home and once again live with my Father, God; I am not only preparing for that, for that is a reality that has been promised, but I am preparing to be ready to go purposely much further even beyond that. He is having me plan, live and prepare for all the stages of eternity, not just this life and not just the entrance into the next, but every realm ahead. I am being shaped by embracing the trials that bring me face to face and heart to heart with my Savior Jesus Christ.
We are teaching 4 Japanese investigators. They know nothing at all about Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and so we are teaching them the most basic things. It is beautiful. I am learning so much Japanese in exchange as well! They are beginning to know their Heavenly Father and to converse with Him. Yesterday, they all woke up at 6am and walked to church with us! They are so impressive!
Don't wait to trust Heavenly Father.
Trust Him now even if your prayer or worry hasn't been visibly answered. It is our trials that give us a chance to show what we will choose. And joy is accessed thereby.
I know for myself that no pain is permanent; but Christ is permanent and abiding with us. The Atonement will see us through all we have to face and go through in this life and bring us triumphantly over all our sorrows and trails--for with the atonement coupled with trials, we rise to who we know we are meant to be, up into the even higher realm of who we really are and who Heavenly Father knows we can unboundedly and exaltedly become.
His love transforms us.
Anyone who keeps walking with the Lord, will make it through and above anything. That is the promise of reality.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Hold Your Head High, but Humble and Ready to Learn
कैसे है! हम बहुत कृषि लगे, और सुब चीज हम सीखा ई हप्ता में, बहुत सेलेस्टियल है!
激です！こ日わ❢
Every great story has got to have a dilemma. The morning of the Baptism, Soni and Kirti's phone wasn't answering. That's unusual and usually means something bad. All possibilities came and raced through our minds, or what could have happened to them or what could have gone wrong, or what might be trying to keep them from making this most important of all decisions in life.
Immediately, I began fasting earnestly and agreed with the Lord that I wouldn't break the fast until they were dressed in white there, and they were entering the waters of covenant--the waters of change--the waters of a new life--even, the waters of Baptism.
We dropped everything and zipped over to their house with their Baptismal Dresses so they could see what they would be wearing for this most special of all occasions, and for us to know that nothing had happened and they were still good and ready to go.
On the drive over, we passed an investigator we haven't talked to in months! We were able to get back in contact with her and set up to meet with her and her daughter again, and we invited them to the baptism that night!
Had this obstacle and difficulty not happened, we wouldn't have crossed this dear former investigator's path! The Lord knows what He's doing, in all our uncertainties and hard moments of confusion.
Thus we can trust in Him even to perfect peace even before the fogs and mists of those trials do lift.
At the Baptism, about 60 people were there to support Soni and Kirti!!!! The entire ward and some friends of Soni and Kirti's from Koroipita!!!
They changed into their Baptismal Clothes, and we took pictures, and started the program. There were wonderful talks given in only Hindi. The font was overflowing, just like the blessings and joy in their lives. I got to sing a solo new arrangement of " I am a Child of God." and they cried and it was very powerful and emotional to feel the spirit there.
Just before I baptized Kirti, there was a phone that went off in someone's pocket, and it was loud nice singing. I immediately commented in delight, "See? Choirs of angels!" Everyone laughed. The solemnity and joy was rich. And as she went down into the water, her old life drowned and her new life blossomed.
Soni went around kissing everyone on the cheek and hugging them and thanking them--all 60 people!
It was a wonderful event.
We had a flat tire that I used to turn into a good use: Shared the gospel with 5 people because of it.
Elder Moka went home to New Zealand and I got a new companion who is fluent in Hindi! Elder Singh! We speak and write and think in Hindi!
Kirti was persecuted by her village, and she didn't hardly care. She still went around proudly telling everyone she is member of Jesus Christ's church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
He is guaranteed the prize who never stops walking forward.
My mission is 1/3 finished already. The More humble I am, the faster, deeper and more I progress and grow and advance.
I learned how to read and write in Hindi in one day.
My eye got all swollen and I was starting to not even be able to see out of half of it, but I didn't care. I proudly went out to do the Lord's work anyway---proud of my face and the Lord I serve giving me the strength to turn it all for good.
I don't ask the Lord to take my trials from me; I ask the Lord to use my trials to take my sins and weaknesses from me thereby. I recognize trials this way are the greatest positives.
I want to always live so as to know Father approves of my life.
I have found that when everything is stacked against us it makes a ramp or wall that is the only way up to knowing God the Father and Christ and to exaltation, purification, sanctified. Climb it with Christ!
Let God help you by helping you help others.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ is becoming all I think about.
激です！こ日わ❢
Every great story has got to have a dilemma. The morning of the Baptism, Soni and Kirti's phone wasn't answering. That's unusual and usually means something bad. All possibilities came and raced through our minds, or what could have happened to them or what could have gone wrong, or what might be trying to keep them from making this most important of all decisions in life.
Immediately, I began fasting earnestly and agreed with the Lord that I wouldn't break the fast until they were dressed in white there, and they were entering the waters of covenant--the waters of change--the waters of a new life--even, the waters of Baptism.
We dropped everything and zipped over to their house with their Baptismal Dresses so they could see what they would be wearing for this most special of all occasions, and for us to know that nothing had happened and they were still good and ready to go.
On the drive over, we passed an investigator we haven't talked to in months! We were able to get back in contact with her and set up to meet with her and her daughter again, and we invited them to the baptism that night!
Had this obstacle and difficulty not happened, we wouldn't have crossed this dear former investigator's path! The Lord knows what He's doing, in all our uncertainties and hard moments of confusion.
Thus we can trust in Him even to perfect peace even before the fogs and mists of those trials do lift.
At the Baptism, about 60 people were there to support Soni and Kirti!!!! The entire ward and some friends of Soni and Kirti's from Koroipita!!!
They changed into their Baptismal Clothes, and we took pictures, and started the program. There were wonderful talks given in only Hindi. The font was overflowing, just like the blessings and joy in their lives. I got to sing a solo new arrangement of " I am a Child of God." and they cried and it was very powerful and emotional to feel the spirit there.
Just before I baptized Kirti, there was a phone that went off in someone's pocket, and it was loud nice singing. I immediately commented in delight, "See? Choirs of angels!" Everyone laughed. The solemnity and joy was rich. And as she went down into the water, her old life drowned and her new life blossomed.
Soni went around kissing everyone on the cheek and hugging them and thanking them--all 60 people!
It was a wonderful event.
We had a flat tire that I used to turn into a good use: Shared the gospel with 5 people because of it.
Elder Moka went home to New Zealand and I got a new companion who is fluent in Hindi! Elder Singh! We speak and write and think in Hindi!
Kirti was persecuted by her village, and she didn't hardly care. She still went around proudly telling everyone she is member of Jesus Christ's church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
He is guaranteed the prize who never stops walking forward.
My mission is 1/3 finished already. The More humble I am, the faster, deeper and more I progress and grow and advance.
I learned how to read and write in Hindi in one day.
My eye got all swollen and I was starting to not even be able to see out of half of it, but I didn't care. I proudly went out to do the Lord's work anyway---proud of my face and the Lord I serve giving me the strength to turn it all for good.
I don't ask the Lord to take my trials from me; I ask the Lord to use my trials to take my sins and weaknesses from me thereby. I recognize trials this way are the greatest positives.
I want to always live so as to know Father approves of my life.
I have found that when everything is stacked against us it makes a ramp or wall that is the only way up to knowing God the Father and Christ and to exaltation, purification, sanctified. Climb it with Christ!
Let God help you by helping you help others.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ is becoming all I think about.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Your Mountain. You're Not Alone.
On The Journey of Joy, The Mountain is the Opposite--and that's where we can choose to make our joy a depth that is unstoppable, untouchable, unbreakable.
The Mountain holds the view of all eternities our souls once knew--and will know, and the Mountain holds the prize God designs to be ours: grand and worth all the lifetime we pay for it, in exaltation with Him evermore.
But there remains a path before our feet.
There yet remain choices when the path gets hard on some days when the summit slips out of our sight...
Our Savior is a rock climber, a Mountain climber. He faced all your obstacles that are hurting you now. He walked the lonely path Himself--and now, He's your friend...
His whole mission is nothing more or less than,
You.
He lived, and lives for nothing apart from being the friend you need to pass all the tests of this life, no matter how hard.
He is the one, the One who is everything your heart and limbs need to draw the strength to make the monumental journey of the grand climb of this part of the beautiful stages of eternity you now find yourself in.
Your journey is His specialty.
Keep walking and reach out to Him, Look for Him, Speak to Him, Invite Him, Love Him, Show your Trust and Yearning for Him, Believe, and you'll realize in your deepest sorrows and pains and trials, you were never walking alone.
Most importantly,
I Testify,
You're Not Walking Alone Right Now:
Because He Lives, All He Does is walk you to peace eternally.
The Journey is Joy,
The Path is Obstacles,
But Obstacles are the Way Joy Becomes the Journey.
You've Felt the Journey is Long.
'Tis but a Small Moment.
You Belong.
You are Strong.
Ahead, is always a brighter, glorious dawn for those who keep walking and keep seeking Christ and relying on Him who loves us and yearns to lift and bear the burdens that make our hearts groan--for those who keep actively choosing joy.
This life isn't meant to be convenient or easy or without pain.
This life is meant to change us forever. To set the course for that eternal state we are about to enter.
The best thing in life that can happen, might just be your heart breaking. I have found that a broken heart, a paining heart, is a heart that grows. A heart that climbs even in the storms, even in the mob attacks, and even in the heat of the dry and long desert day... that heart becomes one like God, one that leans on the Savior, Christ; one He can use, one that brings itself to seek Him and one that finds Him, one that brings glory to His name.
Broken soil yields grain. Broken bread feeds man for one more day. Broken things mend stronger. Gold goes through the hottest heat before its' true and fullest value is revealed and brought to the surface.
And His is a voice that can only be received by a "broken heart" and "contrite spirit."
If life ever leaves you feeling broken or alone...
You are being prepared for your heavenly throne:
Broken things change.
They are brought to a point where they can choose if they want that change to take them in a positive, or negative direction.
Let God shape you. He's not just sending you out on the race of life... He's running it with you, closer and more lovingly by your side than your eyes or heart can see. The race's end leads to all you can boundless be; even as He. The race's end leads to being like Him, and the heights and depths of the joy that is in store for those that endure faithfully and with a perfect brightness of hope even when all around is dark and painful, they gain a level of joy that becomes regardless of circumstances--one that turns all things that come it's way, positive! One that is the never-ending happiness the scriptures speak of the righteous receiving as their greatest and deepest reward in exaltation in evermore.
"O God, Where Art Thou?"
The above is what this week's message is about. And to get the juice and richness of what this lesson has to offer you in your hard or happy times, you're going to have to read it for yourself.
Take the time.
Skip down a little in it, to where the actual lesson is. And pour over the scriptures.
God told me this is what was needed for me to write this week.
So where is God? The heart aches... the heart cries out, and the heart breaks, and who is there in the world to hear or understand it or speak the melody it needs to be made whole again? Where is God?
He is where you call out to Him, from the heart. And He is where you then live for Him and His great causes and purposes, from the actions of your will. He is where you let Him in.
He's trying to come in every door.
He's in whichever door you open.
Where is God?
Where He's always been.....
I testify
He's right with you.
I don't promise that.
--- > He promises that.
And as His representative, only a messenger, He has commanded deliver this promise to you this week.
The Mountain holds the view of all eternities our souls once knew--and will know, and the Mountain holds the prize God designs to be ours: grand and worth all the lifetime we pay for it, in exaltation with Him evermore.
But there remains a path before our feet.
There yet remain choices when the path gets hard on some days when the summit slips out of our sight...
Our Savior is a rock climber, a Mountain climber. He faced all your obstacles that are hurting you now. He walked the lonely path Himself--and now, He's your friend...
His whole mission is nothing more or less than,
You.
He lived, and lives for nothing apart from being the friend you need to pass all the tests of this life, no matter how hard.
He is the one, the One who is everything your heart and limbs need to draw the strength to make the monumental journey of the grand climb of this part of the beautiful stages of eternity you now find yourself in.
Your journey is His specialty.
Keep walking and reach out to Him, Look for Him, Speak to Him, Invite Him, Love Him, Show your Trust and Yearning for Him, Believe, and you'll realize in your deepest sorrows and pains and trials, you were never walking alone.
Most importantly,
I Testify,
You're Not Walking Alone Right Now:
Because He Lives, All He Does is walk you to peace eternally.
The Journey is Joy,
The Path is Obstacles,
But Obstacles are the Way Joy Becomes the Journey.
You've Felt the Journey is Long.
'Tis but a Small Moment.
You Belong.
You are Strong.
Ahead, is always a brighter, glorious dawn for those who keep walking and keep seeking Christ and relying on Him who loves us and yearns to lift and bear the burdens that make our hearts groan--for those who keep actively choosing joy.
This life isn't meant to be convenient or easy or without pain.
This life is meant to change us forever. To set the course for that eternal state we are about to enter.
The best thing in life that can happen, might just be your heart breaking. I have found that a broken heart, a paining heart, is a heart that grows. A heart that climbs even in the storms, even in the mob attacks, and even in the heat of the dry and long desert day... that heart becomes one like God, one that leans on the Savior, Christ; one He can use, one that brings itself to seek Him and one that finds Him, one that brings glory to His name.
Broken soil yields grain. Broken bread feeds man for one more day. Broken things mend stronger. Gold goes through the hottest heat before its' true and fullest value is revealed and brought to the surface.
And His is a voice that can only be received by a "broken heart" and "contrite spirit."
If life ever leaves you feeling broken or alone...
You are being prepared for your heavenly throne:
"Thine adversity and thine affliction shall be but a small moment, and then if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high." (Keep reading and go to the link further below, to site the scripture reference.)
Broken things change.
They are brought to a point where they can choose if they want that change to take them in a positive, or negative direction.
Let God shape you. He's not just sending you out on the race of life... He's running it with you, closer and more lovingly by your side than your eyes or heart can see. The race's end leads to all you can boundless be; even as He. The race's end leads to being like Him, and the heights and depths of the joy that is in store for those that endure faithfully and with a perfect brightness of hope even when all around is dark and painful, they gain a level of joy that becomes regardless of circumstances--one that turns all things that come it's way, positive! One that is the never-ending happiness the scriptures speak of the righteous receiving as their greatest and deepest reward in exaltation in evermore.
"O God, Where Art Thou?"
The above is what this week's message is about. And to get the juice and richness of what this lesson has to offer you in your hard or happy times, you're going to have to read it for yourself.
Take the time.
Skip down a little in it, to where the actual lesson is. And pour over the scriptures.
God told me this is what was needed for me to write this week.
So where is God? The heart aches... the heart cries out, and the heart breaks, and who is there in the world to hear or understand it or speak the melody it needs to be made whole again? Where is God?
He is where you call out to Him, from the heart. And He is where you then live for Him and His great causes and purposes, from the actions of your will. He is where you let Him in.
He's trying to come in every door.
He's in whichever door you open.
Where is God?
Where He's always been.....
I testify
He's right with you.
I don't promise that.
--- > He promises that.
And as His representative, only a messenger, He has commanded deliver this promise to you this week.
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Consecration: the why I THRIVE
The Simplest Key
The Grandest Door.
The Key, that will open
Endless Doors, worlds without end...
That is what I have gained and learned from our Heavenly Father this week.
And that is what I would like to mix into my account of this week's work.
May what Heavenly Father uses me to share this week, bless your life, as you read with your heart and mind tuned to whatever He might say to your mind and heart as you read and ponder the following:
This week, we have more success than ever!! And tonight we have 2 baptisms!! The best baptisms I have seen in my life yet!
Back at the time period of my most recent Birthday in January of this year, the Hindi program was struggling so much and seeing no success so much that it was about to shut down permanently and pull all plugs and call it a wasted effort.
There were a few small things that happened, which barely kept the program alive.
It has been a joy to watch the phenomenal and unbelievable explosion in progress and advancement the program has made in these short months since that time when all hope was lost and hanging nearly by a thread!
Heavenly Father put me in the program in February, and I have been able to watch the work transform dramatically, and now it has more thrive and drive than any of us can totally work with!!!
There are literally 1000's now who are ready to hear the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ! The truth will go forth boldly and nobly until it has sounded in every ear. No unhallowed hand can stop this work, and now it is growing at rates that are beyond human. The Lord is magnifying all of us.
Why?
I will never be the same, because this week, the Why finally went to my heart and is pouring out in all my actions, thought and very being. I am changed and can never go back. The Lord has changed me forever, by opening my eyes to the fact of this one word's power:
Consecration.
Please read here: what to do in order to gain your exaltation This is the center and focus of this week's entire email message... and perhaps the central message and key to all the grandest things ahead of all of us in our glorious potentials and destinies if we will choose it.
It is the fact that, we cannot give the Lord any sacrifice, for we have nothing to give which is not already His.
So we give our heart, and then we are one with Him and He is able to use and exalt and glorify His work through us by His enabling power. Herein is the fullness of joy that I am always so excitedly talking about !!!!
All the ends of the earth are invited unto it, for it is the eternal doctrine of Christ. He set the perfect example of it for us all. He consecrated all and saw none of it as a sacrifice, but as His joy and work with the Father. It gave Him an eternal perspective, and it made His influence in life, eternal unto endless day. So, each of us now may.
Think of the grandest music and the most heart and soul wrenching and edifying and moving symphonies you have EVER heard in your life, and think of all those most exalted moments in golden sunlight that your soul can remember of your time in this walk on earth, and think of every most epic movie that ever was, is or will be.
The vibe of my life matches and is it tune with all these things, because the Holy Ghost is with me and I follow it--even that the uppermost rule of my being is to follow it.
I testify that Christ is how we reach life's fullness of potential. It is only through Him and His atonement and His mercy, His name, His love, His enabling power, that we can change... we can. We can be as He. We can be every best thing we can imagine, and much much more. Even into the reality of eternity, of which I am able to testify of with absolute certainty.
I know Jesus Christ is the only way. I know He is the only truth, the only light, the only way, and the only hope. He is the fullness of all that is pure and uplifting and edifying and good and eternal.
One of the congregations we are working with here, (the Lautoka 1st Ward) hasn't had a Bishop or bishopric for 8 months, and just yesterday they were finally called! We have a new bishop!
This is such a blessing!
We have been teaching about 20 kids in Koroipita, and they are progressing so well! They are such bright minds. Their testimonies are so strong.
I believe that the only reason God ever gives us anything, is to see what we will do with it.
Think about that, and it might change... everything.
Any and all seeds that you plant, whether sooner or later, will produce something. Either they will grow, or at least something will have grown in you the planter, for having been willing to plant the seed. So go out today and every day, to plant good. Always live foreseeing the outcome of your actions whether it leads to long term positive, or negatively short term darker things.
Walk in the Light.
I invite everyone to consecrate their lives.
This is the door that has led to all of my joys and successes.
I love all of you!
_Eternal Missionary, Elder Howard
Hindi, Fijian, Japanese, English speaking
Fiji Lautoka
The Grandest Door.
The Key, that will open
Endless Doors, worlds without end...
That is what I have gained and learned from our Heavenly Father this week.
And that is what I would like to mix into my account of this week's work.
May what Heavenly Father uses me to share this week, bless your life, as you read with your heart and mind tuned to whatever He might say to your mind and heart as you read and ponder the following:
This week, we have more success than ever!! And tonight we have 2 baptisms!! The best baptisms I have seen in my life yet!
Back at the time period of my most recent Birthday in January of this year, the Hindi program was struggling so much and seeing no success so much that it was about to shut down permanently and pull all plugs and call it a wasted effort.
There were a few small things that happened, which barely kept the program alive.
It has been a joy to watch the phenomenal and unbelievable explosion in progress and advancement the program has made in these short months since that time when all hope was lost and hanging nearly by a thread!
Heavenly Father put me in the program in February, and I have been able to watch the work transform dramatically, and now it has more thrive and drive than any of us can totally work with!!!
There are literally 1000's now who are ready to hear the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ! The truth will go forth boldly and nobly until it has sounded in every ear. No unhallowed hand can stop this work, and now it is growing at rates that are beyond human. The Lord is magnifying all of us.
Why?
I will never be the same, because this week, the Why finally went to my heart and is pouring out in all my actions, thought and very being. I am changed and can never go back. The Lord has changed me forever, by opening my eyes to the fact of this one word's power:
Consecration.
Please read here: what to do in order to gain your exaltation This is the center and focus of this week's entire email message... and perhaps the central message and key to all the grandest things ahead of all of us in our glorious potentials and destinies if we will choose it.
It is the fact that, we cannot give the Lord any sacrifice, for we have nothing to give which is not already His.
So we give our heart, and then we are one with Him and He is able to use and exalt and glorify His work through us by His enabling power. Herein is the fullness of joy that I am always so excitedly talking about !!!!
All the ends of the earth are invited unto it, for it is the eternal doctrine of Christ. He set the perfect example of it for us all. He consecrated all and saw none of it as a sacrifice, but as His joy and work with the Father. It gave Him an eternal perspective, and it made His influence in life, eternal unto endless day. So, each of us now may.
The vibe of my life matches and is it tune with all these things, because the Holy Ghost is with me and I follow it--even that the uppermost rule of my being is to follow it.
I testify that Christ is how we reach life's fullness of potential. It is only through Him and His atonement and His mercy, His name, His love, His enabling power, that we can change... we can. We can be as He. We can be every best thing we can imagine, and much much more. Even into the reality of eternity, of which I am able to testify of with absolute certainty.
I know Jesus Christ is the only way. I know He is the only truth, the only light, the only way, and the only hope. He is the fullness of all that is pure and uplifting and edifying and good and eternal.
One of the congregations we are working with here, (the Lautoka 1st Ward) hasn't had a Bishop or bishopric for 8 months, and just yesterday they were finally called! We have a new bishop!
This is such a blessing!
We have been teaching about 20 kids in Koroipita, and they are progressing so well! They are such bright minds. Their testimonies are so strong.
I believe that the only reason God ever gives us anything, is to see what we will do with it.
Think about that, and it might change... everything.
Any and all seeds that you plant, whether sooner or later, will produce something. Either they will grow, or at least something will have grown in you the planter, for having been willing to plant the seed. So go out today and every day, to plant good. Always live foreseeing the outcome of your actions whether it leads to long term positive, or negatively short term darker things.
Walk in the Light.
I invite everyone to consecrate their lives.
This is the door that has led to all of my joys and successes.
I love all of you!
_Eternal Missionary, Elder Howard
Hindi, Fijian, Japanese, English speaking
Fiji Lautoka
Monday, May 4, 2015
1,000 kilometers!!
This past week, we had several baptisms.
The Lord used us to cast out and rebuke devils that possessed people and caused them to shake uncontrollably, and for their tongues to be bound so they couldn't speak at all. The Lord used us to rebuke the evil spirits, and heal these children of God as they had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, He freed them.
The Lord used us to heal the sick, save human mortal and eternal lives, rebuild testimonies, fix broken lives, reclaim the lost sheep of the Savior's fold, strengthen, heal, fix and fortify families, and rekindle their vision of love, hope, and light.
We traveled nearly 1,000 kilometers in our car this past month!
We have 15 new investigating the restored fulness of heavenly Father's eternal gospel. Those in hospitals who had infirmities and evil spirits or unconquerable and uncontrollable ailments, we were God's tools and hands to lift, fix and heal them both physically and spiritually and eternally. They are now discharged and out of the hospital, or being discharged from the hospital this week, free, cured, now the top desire of their hearts is to follow after Christ and be baptized, casting away their false idols and old traditions and beliefs. We were sent 2 Japanese people who are students here in Fiji learning English; and they have been coming to church because Heavenly Father led them there, and we are amazed and impressed by their desire and hunger and willingness toward the Gospel as they excitedly take the first steps to learning who Jesus Christ is. They are reading a Japanese Book of Mormon heavenly Father gave us to give to them, and they treasure it as their most precious possession. We begin teaching them as our first Japanese investigators ever, on this Thursday.
Prophecies the Lord has told me, came true in the fullness of how He in advance foretold and revealed to me it would go. We finally read and write in Hindi. i was given prophecies concerning my wife and future generations. I am now the senior companion as we march on in these last weeks before I train in Hindi and this area. I will receive a new outstanding companion soon.
We are teaching a lady who runs a shop we often go eat at. She loves what she is learning, and we gave her to Mormon Tabernacle Choir CDs and she said she would go play them over the loudspeakers at the Restaurant! She also wants us to come over and teach her whole neighborhood!
These 730 days invested in my 2-year Mission, will positively change and determine the next 730 years of my life. I know that Christ has grand things planned, and as I work with Him, I see them all unfolding as He shows me them, one line at a time.
If we choose to follow Christ, we arrive at the same destination He arrived at. That was His message and invitation to all of mankind. Anyone can choose to be destined to receive of all the Father desires to give His children, even a fullness of all that He hath. We can choose to reach as I as we will.
How we choose it is by living His gospel, and finding our lives and the fullness of how rich and deep life can be, by losing ourselves fully to Him and His joyful work! Daily! And minutely. In each decision that comes day-to-day.
I have never sacrificed or given anything to Heavenly Father. for, every give has been attached to an even greater receive from Him! All things I have consecrated and given unto my Father, He has returned unto me for my blessing, growth and learning, development, progress and advantage.
With all my heart, I invite the whole world to follow Jesus Christ's perfect example and choose His restored gospel. It is the way to true and lasting happiness!
If you're not living in the realm of the impossible, then you're stifling your own growth and you clip wings that could have learned to fly. Live all the way in the realm of whatever is positively uncomfortable for you. Get in new territory, and you'll gain new depths and joys and talents.
Personal revelation flows our way whenever we choose to freely flow His way.
The Lord has invested so much in me; I owe Him nothing less than even as He is. We can be like He is, if we will follow His way and improve daily, relying on the power of Christ's enabling and wonderful gift of the Atonement.
On Thursday last week, Heavenly Father told me early in the morning when I first woke up, that "People who are ready to receive the Gospel, I will put in your path today. Many of them. You are to 'seize' them[the opportunities]."
As the day unfolded, we went to many shops, and people flowed to us, and we shared with everyone the Lord put in our path. 15 or so golden investigators are now opened to coming to church and progressing in the Gospel!
While we were in the market, I was prompted that I needed to go over to a specific bunch of Bananas the Lord showed me, and buy them and share the gospel with the lady selling them. I didn't heed the prompting for some reason, and kept walking. But then my companion turned around and went right over to those exact bananas and out of all the many bunches, he selected the exact bunch the Lord had just previously told me in my mind that I needed to purchase. Struck by this, I immediately began to share with this Fijian woman who was selling them.
The next day she called us. And she has called us every day since. She is one of the most desperate I have yet seen, to hear the gospel and have us come over.
I know and testify that the Lord is ready to use EACH OF US. YOU, RIGHT. NOW.
I testify He is ready to use you right now.
We cannot gain all light and knowledge at once, so we must at once gain some!
There was a woman whose son was killed by being run over by a bus. We were led to her house by the Lord, without us even trying or knowing it was her. She welcomed us in as she was silent and crying, and then she flung herself into my arms and cried. We shared with her that there was no denying that God directed us to her home because He knew her. We had no idea, God just led all the details and there we were. We are teaching her and she is gaining perfect peace.
Whenever we have a hard day that is all against us and impossible, press forward thru, epic just do, and then best and productive day ever it will turn into! I have experienced this 60 times out here!!! I know it's true. if you push through, you'll always get to a higher high than you've ever been to! If you know a high is after the low, then why not cheat and just be happy while in the low?? :)
Beat life!!!
Win!!!
Our investigators Soni and Kirti bore their testimonies in church and in our lesson the other day!! They are so strong! They will be baptized next week! Keep praying for them!!!
I feel very humbled.
I am not bothered by having lost all the photos from my mission so far. I am building something that will outlast as long as any photos of this world ever will. I have no attachment to things that will only last 200 years. I am building something much grander.
At present, I am not able to take anymore pictures on my mission. The viruses here are too powerful and destructive.
I am fasting for all of you, any strength you need, I pray the Lord gives it to you.
The Lord used us to cast out and rebuke devils that possessed people and caused them to shake uncontrollably, and for their tongues to be bound so they couldn't speak at all. The Lord used us to rebuke the evil spirits, and heal these children of God as they had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, He freed them.
The Lord used us to heal the sick, save human mortal and eternal lives, rebuild testimonies, fix broken lives, reclaim the lost sheep of the Savior's fold, strengthen, heal, fix and fortify families, and rekindle their vision of love, hope, and light.
We traveled nearly 1,000 kilometers in our car this past month!
We have 15 new investigating the restored fulness of heavenly Father's eternal gospel. Those in hospitals who had infirmities and evil spirits or unconquerable and uncontrollable ailments, we were God's tools and hands to lift, fix and heal them both physically and spiritually and eternally. They are now discharged and out of the hospital, or being discharged from the hospital this week, free, cured, now the top desire of their hearts is to follow after Christ and be baptized, casting away their false idols and old traditions and beliefs. We were sent 2 Japanese people who are students here in Fiji learning English; and they have been coming to church because Heavenly Father led them there, and we are amazed and impressed by their desire and hunger and willingness toward the Gospel as they excitedly take the first steps to learning who Jesus Christ is. They are reading a Japanese Book of Mormon heavenly Father gave us to give to them, and they treasure it as their most precious possession. We begin teaching them as our first Japanese investigators ever, on this Thursday.
Prophecies the Lord has told me, came true in the fullness of how He in advance foretold and revealed to me it would go. We finally read and write in Hindi. i was given prophecies concerning my wife and future generations. I am now the senior companion as we march on in these last weeks before I train in Hindi and this area. I will receive a new outstanding companion soon.
We are teaching a lady who runs a shop we often go eat at. She loves what she is learning, and we gave her to Mormon Tabernacle Choir CDs and she said she would go play them over the loudspeakers at the Restaurant! She also wants us to come over and teach her whole neighborhood!
These 730 days invested in my 2-year Mission, will positively change and determine the next 730 years of my life. I know that Christ has grand things planned, and as I work with Him, I see them all unfolding as He shows me them, one line at a time.
If we choose to follow Christ, we arrive at the same destination He arrived at. That was His message and invitation to all of mankind. Anyone can choose to be destined to receive of all the Father desires to give His children, even a fullness of all that He hath. We can choose to reach as I as we will.
How we choose it is by living His gospel, and finding our lives and the fullness of how rich and deep life can be, by losing ourselves fully to Him and His joyful work! Daily! And minutely. In each decision that comes day-to-day.
I have never sacrificed or given anything to Heavenly Father. for, every give has been attached to an even greater receive from Him! All things I have consecrated and given unto my Father, He has returned unto me for my blessing, growth and learning, development, progress and advantage.
With all my heart, I invite the whole world to follow Jesus Christ's perfect example and choose His restored gospel. It is the way to true and lasting happiness!
If you're not living in the realm of the impossible, then you're stifling your own growth and you clip wings that could have learned to fly. Live all the way in the realm of whatever is positively uncomfortable for you. Get in new territory, and you'll gain new depths and joys and talents.
Personal revelation flows our way whenever we choose to freely flow His way.
The Lord has invested so much in me; I owe Him nothing less than even as He is. We can be like He is, if we will follow His way and improve daily, relying on the power of Christ's enabling and wonderful gift of the Atonement.
On Thursday last week, Heavenly Father told me early in the morning when I first woke up, that "People who are ready to receive the Gospel, I will put in your path today. Many of them. You are to 'seize' them[the opportunities]."
As the day unfolded, we went to many shops, and people flowed to us, and we shared with everyone the Lord put in our path. 15 or so golden investigators are now opened to coming to church and progressing in the Gospel!
While we were in the market, I was prompted that I needed to go over to a specific bunch of Bananas the Lord showed me, and buy them and share the gospel with the lady selling them. I didn't heed the prompting for some reason, and kept walking. But then my companion turned around and went right over to those exact bananas and out of all the many bunches, he selected the exact bunch the Lord had just previously told me in my mind that I needed to purchase. Struck by this, I immediately began to share with this Fijian woman who was selling them.
The next day she called us. And she has called us every day since. She is one of the most desperate I have yet seen, to hear the gospel and have us come over.
I know and testify that the Lord is ready to use EACH OF US. YOU, RIGHT. NOW.
I testify He is ready to use you right now.
We cannot gain all light and knowledge at once, so we must at once gain some!
There was a woman whose son was killed by being run over by a bus. We were led to her house by the Lord, without us even trying or knowing it was her. She welcomed us in as she was silent and crying, and then she flung herself into my arms and cried. We shared with her that there was no denying that God directed us to her home because He knew her. We had no idea, God just led all the details and there we were. We are teaching her and she is gaining perfect peace.
Whenever we have a hard day that is all against us and impossible, press forward thru, epic just do, and then best and productive day ever it will turn into! I have experienced this 60 times out here!!! I know it's true. if you push through, you'll always get to a higher high than you've ever been to! If you know a high is after the low, then why not cheat and just be happy while in the low?? :)
Beat life!!!
Win!!!
Our investigators Soni and Kirti bore their testimonies in church and in our lesson the other day!! They are so strong! They will be baptized next week! Keep praying for them!!!
I feel very humbled.
I am not bothered by having lost all the photos from my mission so far. I am building something that will outlast as long as any photos of this world ever will. I have no attachment to things that will only last 200 years. I am building something much grander.
At present, I am not able to take anymore pictures on my mission. The viruses here are too powerful and destructive.
I am fasting for all of you, any strength you need, I pray the Lord gives it to you.
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