4Steps 4Success 4Eternity

Dear Family and Friends--both of which I see as my beloved family--
This might be my last week in Lautoka Fiji

My Report:

I have been living and working every week lately to make it so I could look the Savior Jesus Christ in the eyes and say I have done all the work He sent me to do here in Lautoka.  I won't leave an ounce of possible regret here.

Despite Elder Singh leaving to Suva for his possibly broken arm (turned out to be torn muscles--phew! Yay!!!!!! Our PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED :), and my getting very sick and losing my voice entirely, and my having to go to the Dentist for my teeth, STILL, through

Being Teachable

Exact Obedience

Hard Work

Developing a Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ

Elder Singh and I have still reached at least 20 lessons per week, at least 4 weeks in a row now, I believe.  It feels great!  We have really helped a tremendous amount of Heavenly Father's very needy and now satisfied children in Lautoka.  Our converts and investigators and returning members are strong and facing their trials well.  My only worry is about Soni.  She is elderly and we are just doing everything we can to help her in her quest to keep her testimony and become self reliant.  The wards here are excellent.  We are going over with a member family to do a family home evening with them tonight.

Elder Singh is a real leader.  I have learned so much from him and really enjoy our friendship.  We have become one, so strong, and so close.  We laugh hard, work hard, play hard, and serve each other hard.  We've really been there for each other through a whole lot of things, and we've seen a LOT of success.  I thank Heavenly Father immensely for sending Elder Singh back into the field, and especially sending him to me as my companion.

I love Elder Singh so much and it is thanks to him that I have gained a deeper level of following the Spirit and being exact in my obedience in ALL things.  My nature has been changed in wonderful ways just by my friendship with this stellar missionary.

I have completely changed, and I love the change I see.  My pride has gone down the drain and I don't miss any of it a bit.  I am one with all my brothers and sisters in the work and am lifting them up and they are lifting me up. :) I am more humble than I have ever been in my life, and I truly have embraced the FULL joy of being fully teachable before the Lord.  I am seeing REAL and lasting change for the eternal best!

I can search my heart, and I can say before heaven, that I really have been exactly obedient in all things this week, except for this morning I was ironing my shirt while memorizing scriptures to help some of our investigators, and then realized it was about 9 and got started on today's comp at 9:03, and besides that there was only the fact that I didn't do a full 30 minute workout while I was really sick.  I just did a little because I knew that was wise and proper principles to govern by.  Besides that I can tell you that I really have been exact in all things the Lord has asked of me with the rules.  And I am connecting fully with the full power of a real relationship with Jesus Christ like never before. I am able to defend Him and see Him personally defending me.

I have learned full Hindi and am so excited about it.  I love it and am still excited for what more I can improve on. Elder Singh said there isn't really much more I could do to improve, just practice what I have and keep moving forward every day.


The other day, when Elder Singh had to leave for Suva, I was given 3 new companions.  With them, I had to find a way to feed all of them and how we would manage our plans for that day with the changes that had been hurdled to us.  The Lord told me, "Look at all the yesterdays where I blessed everything to work out, and from that, looking unto me, know that I know what you face and will provide and bless as I have all yesterdays."  I took great comfort in that and moved forward.  As we got to a Family Home Evening that night, we planned a fun game and played it and shared what Heavenly Father told us those people needed from Him, and then they surprised us by telling us they had felt inspired by heaven to provide 3x more food than originally planned!  We were given the perfect amount of food out of nowhere!

The next morning, we all got up and I led us in a workout.  We had so much fun and could hardly move later.  They requested an ab workout, and from my pre-mission life, I ran Fitness Motivation BSH and taught people all these things. It was so fun to lead the workout with my friends, these great Elders.  I love this work and have so much fun and make so many memories every single day.

This is a good key/map for the Sanskrit Hindi Language.  This is the language I write and read in often here in Fiji.  It is a sound-system.  It is so fun and makes a lot of sense.  I really love the language.


Our dear sister who was Baptized just last week, had her birthday and we bought her balloons and cake and brought them over to her as a surprise gift.  We had so much fun. She is so strong in her testimony.  She went over to her neighbor's house who is a Hindu, and read the Book of Mormon with her and is so loving and humble and faithful.  She is growing in her knowledge and faith and happiness.  She is such a bright and valiant spirit.

Elder Singh taught me how to make Indian Curry!  I am learning how to cook all Indian dishes!!!




​This is a drawing I did for one of our families here.  They have changed their lives.  They are working toward the Temple.  The husband is one of my heroes.  We are both the youngest in our families and have such a close bond together.  He has quit smoking.  He used to be associated with the worst and most abominable lifestyles and was a completely different kind of person, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ has fully changed him and his family.  That is what this fullness of Christ's restored Gospel does.  It changes any life that will try it out and turn to the Savior Jesus Christ.

There was another family we started teaching this week.  They are Muslim.  Their beliefs are very different, but we are loving teaching them.  I love them so much.  The head of the household looks just like Brother Corbett from before my mission.  I love this family a lot.  The Book of Mormon has now entered their lives and is a planted seed that will bring them unto Christ.

The Mission is such an experience!

I simply testify that we can have our relationship with Heavenly Father as strong as we choose.  He is really there.  He really lives, and He will be along side us as close as we choose to make ourselves to Him.  I know He loves each of us personally and that this restored gospel is His as He has personally repeated and I declare that He has invited all the ends of the earth to come and see.  Try it out.  This message will change your life.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

_Elder Howard

Climb to Perfection

This week there have been 8 souls that have come unto Christ through the Covenant of Baptism.


I also got proposed to again.  This time was definitely the weirdest though!  She kept trying to kiss my hand and it was way freaky.  We got out of there fast! 



took this picture from a member's balcony.  Our flat is in this photo.  
On the left side^ to the right of the towers.  This is the area where we live and work daily.

We in the Mission here, assisted with the US Navy Hospital Ship Mercy during the past few weeks. This ship provided medical care to the people of Fiji at no cost. Several LDS medical professionals from the states volunteered their time to serve on the ship for the past two weeks. The ship also brought in a significant amount of supplies donated by the Church to help the people here in Fiji. 

​
A miracle from this week: 

My whole district needed to get to this above shown hospital--and we had to get there straight away but we had no transport.  So, the Lord told me to pray that a transport would be sent our way by the Lord.  A few minutes later, there came a transport that had the perfect amount of seats!  It was a rare miracle to have one of those pass us just when we needed--but, thing was, that, it was overtaking a bus at the same time as it passed us, so it couldn't see that we needed help.  

The blue transport van was now long gone and in the distance, but the Lord prompted me gently, that I needed to pray again.  He told me in my heart and in my mind, to pray that the driver would be told by Heavenly Father, to turn around and pick us up.  

I prayed that directly and immediately. 

I felt perfect faith and trust because I had been prompted what to pray. 

And a minute later, we all saw to our extreme surprise, that exact blue transport coming back our way for no reason!  He stopped and we all got in and talked with him.  He was very tired and worked, but had heeded the Lord's voice to him to turn around. 

He took us to the hospital and we were able to get there on time!  

It was a great miracle, that none of us could deny.  It was not a miracle to prove  our faith, but a result of first exercising faith in-line and in accordance with Heavenly Father's will. 

I testify that we can ask Heavenly Father to guide us in what to pray for; and then, we can truly pray in Christ's name, for we are only praying for things which Christ would righteously ask for--and so we shall indeed receive according to our faith and our works.  We will receive every righteous desire of our hearts, if we align ourselves and then have the faith to ask and act. 

I know this is true.  I witness it daily. 

Heavenly Father is more real than these words before your face at this moment.  I can testify of Him to you as if He were before my eyes all day every day.  I know as a fact which I never shall be able to deny, that He really, truly does live and is personal and knowable and intimately aware of each one of us, His beloved children in these brief testing grounds of mortality. 

This was a dinner that a member family made for us last week.  This is a "Lovo"; a traditional Fijian-style of preparing and cooking really tasty food which they then put underground in a hand-made oven and throw dirt over the oven to capsulize the heat and leave it like that for over an hour. 

We had a 9-year old boy named Ryan who is beginning to read the Book of Mormon and right after we taught him how to pray, he confidently and humbly prayed on the spot! 


We have many young people here, who because of the work and lessons the Lord did through me and my companion and especially the power of the Holy Ghost, are all preparing to serve their full-time missions as well!

 We have been fasting for Shayal to get consent from her father to be Baptized.  She is one of the best investigators, and earnest daughters of Heavenly Father.  She is 15 and she is reading the Book of Mormon and taking the lessons, but her father is Hindu, and we have been fasting and praying that his heart would be softened and he would let his family be Baptized and follow the Savior Jesus Christ.  

Please pray for that in your prayers. 

Thank you soo much. 

“It is written in the scriptures that God so loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son to die for the world, that whosoever believeth on him … and keepeth his commandments, shall be saved. But this [sacrifice] did not cost us very much—freely given are all these glorious privileges. …

“… While we give nothing, perhaps, for this atonement and this sacrifice, nevertheless, it has cost someone something, and I love to contemplate what it cost our Father in heaven to give us the gift of his beloved Son, … who so loved the world that he laid his life down to redeem the world, to save us and to feed us spiritually while we walk in this life, and prepare us to go and dwell with him in the eternal worlds. …

“Our Father in heaven … loved his Son Jesus Christ, … for [he] had with him his Son, our Redeemer, in the eternal worlds, faithful and true for ages. … God heard the cry of his Son in that moment of great grief and agony, in the garden when … he cried out: ‘Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me.’ …

“… He saw that Son condemned, he saw him drag the cross through the streets of Jerusalem and faint under its load. … He saw [Jesus’] body stretched out upon the wooden cross, he saw the cruel nails driven through hands and feet, and the blows that broke the skin, tore the flesh … and let out the life’s blood of his Son. …

“In that hour I think I can see our dear Father, … his great heart almost breaking for the love that he had for his Son. Oh, in that moment when he might have saved his Son, I thank him and praise him that he did not fail us, for he had not only the love of his Son in mind, but he had love for us, and I rejoice that he did not interfere, and that his love for us made it possible for him to endure to look upon the sufferings of his Son and give him finally to us, our Savior and our Redeemer. …

“… My brethren and sisters, … if I only knew how essential it was … that I should receive the spiritual life that comes from that Son, I am sure I would always be present at the sacrament table to do honor to the gift that has come unto us” (“The Sacramental Covenant,”Improvement Era, Oct. 1919, 1028–31).

This week we had another miracle:

You may remember her as Mohini, but it turns out her real name is "Priti." She was one of our investigators.  She disappeared and we lost contact with her.  Well, the other day as we were walking along the road coming back from helping a family build their house, we had planned for so many things and lessons that all fell through and didn't happen... and on top of that, for some reason we decided to walk all the way home instead of taking bus or taxi.  And as we were walking, I had the distinct impression from the Holy Ghost that we needed to check one specific house and see if Priti lived there.  We had no idea, but we followed the Spirit.  

When we called out to the owners of the house to see if anyone lived there by chance, by the name of "Priti or Mohini," and 30 seconds later we were blown away and amazed... she called out to us and came walking out from behind the house!!  It was her!!! Only the Lord knew where she lived!! And only following the Holy Ghost's whisper could lead us to find her once again! 

We sat down with her and it turned out we saved her life.  She was about to make a decision in her life that would have destroyed and dashed all her hopes of a celestial and joyful future.  The Lord spoke through us and we were very bold and told what to say from the Holy Ghost.  It was truly undeniable--we all felt the actual presence and acknowledged that indeed hosts of actual angels were in our midst, and the Lord Himself.  

She has now been changing her life.  

It turned out that she had just been having a conversation with Heavenly Father, through aloud prayer to Him, in her house, asking for help, right when we then came up to this house and called her name. 

She has since begun finally coming to church and committed to be Baptized and to live Heavenly Father's way, and is on the path to establishing a possible eternal and family in the foreseeable future.  These are steps I could hardly imagine she would ever reach the point of taking! 

Her uncle, Naresh, has given up smoking and grown in faith from not knowing anything about Jesus Christ or who Heavenly Father even is, to now having the faith to change his life, and he is smiling more and he is giving up his old ways and knows the Savior is real and loves and knows him individually and personally.  He will be Baptized next month. 

The Police Officer who lost her dear husband, is doing well.  We are teaching her and she is so touched by the truth of the doctrine of eternal marriage and families.  She on her own said she wants to start coming to church. We teach her on the job, so this last time, we had to abruptly end because she had to go save someone from being beaten to death a few streets away. 

Heavenly Father wanted me to experience this earth life.  I am glad I signed up for all these trials I have had.  I realized as me and my companion were talking, that if we look back on our lives, the only real times that grew us and advanced us and developed and refined us and prepared us for higher heights in the future, were trials.  Really, life is no joy without the ability to choose above our circumstances.  

My Hindi is peaked now.  I am able to understand everything anyone says, and I am able to convey nearly any idea I wish to express.  Elder Singh has taught me how to teach others the language, and he has told me that my language skills are perfect.  I will continue to rely on the Lord.  He has magnified me and with my 4 companions' help (Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, and Elder Singh,) I have mastered Hindi and am ready to teach it freely--speaking, reading, writing; the Lord has given all these gifts, and I acknowledge fully that they have come from Him.  

All of our investigators are nearly ready to receive Baptismal Dates.  Our Recent Converts are strong, self-reliant, and decided they are determined and set to serve their full-time mission as well!  Soni and Kirti (baptisms from last month) are so strong.  Soni's husband and Kirti's father has returned and their family is being put back together and we've begun the long road to their goal of eternal family- temple marriage! 

We truly watched miracles in our 24 lessons this week!  

I personally have grown drastically in my time here in Lautoka.  The investigators have transformed and are blossoming!  The members are thriving in their unity and testimonies day by day.  The language was fully mastered here.  I am in love with Lautoka and the children of God here are strong. 

"Blessedness is defined as being higher than happiness.  Happiness comes from without and is dependent on circumstances; blessedness is an inward fountain of joy in the soul itself, which no out ward circumstances can seriously affect."

Exact obedience is the most rewarding aspect of mission life, and post mission life.  I am very pleased that my mind and heart learned this lesson.  

I am seeing the blessings. 

https://www.lds.org/manual/new-testament-teacher-manual/the-gospel-according-to-st-matthew/lesson-3-matthew-5-7?lang=eng

I have nothing to prove.  I am confident and humble and usable and exactly obedient. AND IT IS FUN! 

हमर डील से , एल्डर होवार्ड