Do You Want a Miracle?

Ni Sa Bula Vinaka, from the Island of Fiji!

This is one of the houses here around my area!  This is an example of what Fijian Houses look like!  With how much it rains here, a house like this isn't a bad idea.  These fantastic people decided to build their house as a Boat.  

I think I'm going to do this when I get back to America and start my own family and make a house.

Too bad American building codes are ridiculous and make it impossible for one to build anything like this back home!  

Here, you just ask the village chief for a piece of land, and if he grants it, you're free to build whatever weird thing your heart desires! 

​Everywhere I go now, I greet people as I pass them and when I see them, like this:
"Bula, (or moce, depending on the time of day,) luve ni Kalou!"  

Which means, "Hello, child of God!" 

If this is one of the greatest, truest, most uplifting of all eternal truths, and the one that is the most worth understanding and teaching, and the one that inspires and lifts us the mosteverytime we remind ourselves of it... Then why not greet everyone this way?  

Remind the world, and each divine soul in it, of their eternal and grand origin, destiny, worth and potential. 
DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?

DO YOU KNOW YOUR POTENTIAL?

It's Awesome!!! 

​I've seen miracles literally every day of my mission.  There hasn't been one single day where I couldn't see Heavenly Father's hand undeniably, awesomely, and unmistakably! If you ask Him to show you how His hand and love have been in your day, and then let His Spirit show you, you will find so many things in your day where He made Himself obvious.  

He loves YOU.  

I testify Heavenly Father loves you.

Look for His hand.  I testify that it's literally everywhere!  

I have decided I will bring the gospel to the entire nation of Fiji.  How will I do that?  By not doing it>>>

>>>>By letting Heavenly Father do it through me!  Not me doing it--HIM doing it and just using me as the channel by which He does it.
I will do it the way He does all His ministering and blessing of His eternal children:

One by one.

One at a time.
Loving, Serving, Blessing, & Ministering to Individuals.
Through taking advantage of literally every opportunity my Heavenly Father gives me--and doing it by His enabling and strengthening power.

Thus, I will reach His FULL potential for this mission and these 2 VERY short years--and not just SOME of His potential and vision for my mission.

Whenever we ask for our Father's help and strength, He gives it.  Trust His love.  Give yourself all the way to Him, and awesome things happen!


These lizards are everywhere in our house.  They act like dogs.  They bark, wag their tails, and playfully bite each others' heads.  They walk around on our ceiling, and randomly fall with a loud "SMACK" while we're studying.  

They're the Fijian version of the Squirrels back in Virginia!

Go get to work on something that will have an eternal differnece.  Some small act of kindness.  Share the gospel in beautiful and simple ways completely and only motivated by love.  Pray.  Read the Scriptures.  Smile. Write in your journal.

For, God chooses His while they're working;
But, Satan chooses his while they're idle.

Because of and thanks to, and most importantly through Jesus Christ, we have the same agency(power to chooose,) and potential as He.  If we follow someone, we arrive at the same destination they arrived at. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will help us reach literally all our potential if we live for one joyful purpose: to be completely one with them.

We can take in and become any good quality or characteristic we desire.  Any good and great and noble quality and characteristic we see in the people around us, or of whom we read about, we can be and have all those good qualities!

Every hero we have.  Every prophet of any dispensation.  Anyone in our neighborhood whom we admire.  We can have those good qualities.  We are free to choose to become anything and everything we want--and we can reach Heavenly Father's full vision for who and what we can fully become as His son or daughter.

Pick an attribute or characteristic or quality of someone you admire--and pray for help to make it a part of you.  Then, practice it.  Act as if you already possessed that attribute, and you'll become it.  

We are created with this capabilitiy.  For God has said in the New Testament, and in the Book of Mormon:

"I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father in heaven is perfect." _3rd Nephi 12:48
"What manner of men aught you to be?  Verily I say unto you, even as I (Christ,) am."
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."Matthew 5:48

He isn't asking the impossible.

He is inviting us to believe He can make of us, what we cannot make of ourselves.

Let's accept His invitation!

Become every good quality you see around you. 
Become all you can become! 
Ask for every good gift.

Heavenly Father invites us to ask Him for every good gift and to develop all our unbounded  and limiitless potential.

This gospel makes it possible to reach all of it.

This is more than worth traveling 12,872km/8,000mi for 2 whole years to share with the Children of God--these people of Fiji!

​You don't just have permission to shine your brightest & reach your full potential as a Child of the greatest Being in existence--your Heavenly Father--but 

it is yourDESTINY to.
​

HOW to choose joy!

From the joyful and balmy islands of Fiji, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY 2015!!!! 

 

Literally every moment we find ourselves in, there's a full and glorious potential of LIGHT, Happiness, Joy, and Oneness with our Heavenly Father that can be achieved.  

Jesus Christ's beautiful gospel enables each of us divine and eternal children of our beloved Heavenly Father, to have all the tools and enabling strength and joy and power we need, to make that potential be FULLY AND AWESOMELY realized.  --That potential that lays dormant in each of our given moments of this current phase of Eternal Life.

You, as a Child of that Supreme Being--your personal and loving, eternal Father--have the destiny, right, and joyful opportunity to make ALL of your potential a reality!  

By the enabling, freeing, real, tangible, sweet, and strengthening power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, you're given everything you need and more, to reach all your Heavenly Father highest believes in you--and all your unbounded and divine eternal potential has!





​I believe and know from this gospel and personal experience, that, we all on earth (Our Heavenly Father's eternal and divine Children,) are meant --even destined--to reach our full potential!  That's why Heavenly Father provided the Plan of Salvation which answers questions such as, "Where did I come from?," "Why am I here on earth..what is the purpose of my life?," "Where do I go after I die?," And "How can I know... for sure, from my Heavenly Father, what is true-  Really true?"  

You're here to, & meant to, reach all of it!
Not just some!

You can choose, however, not to reach all of it.

I'm 8,000 miles away from home, for 2 whole focused and hard working, joyful work because this message has given me that; and it works!  In every life of God's individual children.





Every morning, I choose joy.  I believe the morning holds the potential of the rest of your day. You can decide how GREAT that day will be--by Choosing These 3 Things:

• Pray.  Pray, from the heart.  Know Heavenly Father loves you more than you hope.  I testify He does.  He is aware of you.  He cares about you, and nothing you could tell Him could make Him love you less--only more.  He hears EVERY word.  He does everything to bless you lastingly and eternally for your good, if you trust His love and exercise faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.  Pray.  Pray for and ask for, earnestly, His enabling power and strength to be with you and magnify you.  Let Him know you ask for these things so that you may live fully pure and pleasing and worthy before Him for ONE day.  And at the end of the day, having drawn upon the enabling and strengthening power from Him and Christ's Atonement, thank Him.  And then repeat the next day!

This will change the whole day.  This is a choice that determines the quality and joy of your day.

• Smile ridiculously big!!! SMILE FROM YOUR SOUL--AND MEEEEAAAAAAN IT!  Stick with it and stick it to your face and don't put it off or down until 3 minutes are up.  Know that thanks to your knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, you are not governed by your circumstances, so no matter what comes in the day, you can CHOOSE JOY. At every moment.  This exercise will fill you with gratitude and light which will point you to your Heavenly Father.  This sets the direction for the rest of your entire day.

And the third step?

• REPEAT 1&2 AS NEEDED 

I Challenge YOU
To try this out!  It's so easy! And I promise you blessings if you exercise faith and put this to the test.

Lasting happiness comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That's why we're all here.

And our souls hunger and thirst until we find it and live it.

I testify of these things.  

GRATITUDE IS THE MOST POWERFUL THING.
OVERUSE IT.




My happiness thanks to this restored gospel, is to the point where nothing can take away my ridiculous happiness!  I mean it; my mood, my circumstances, conditions, surroundings, things others do or say, injury, "loss," pain, even mistakes!  None of these "have power to drag me down to the gulf of misery and endless woe."(Helaman 5:12, Book of Mormon.)  Because I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and from knowing Them, I know  Heavenly Father is the Author of every encouraging & hope-filled, improving, moving upward & forward, loved & loving & repenting & productive, Christ-centered thought!  And I use my Agency He's given me (the power to choose,) to choose these things.  Christ is the reason I'm able to be happy regardless of anything.

Cannibals eat Missionaries part 2!!

You don't have to read the following, if you don't want to.  Just keeping everyone posted on how Fiji is! 

In Fiji, there are still cannibals.  They legitimately eat people.  There are only a few of them, and they live up in villages by themselves--and the Fijians know where they are and warn the Missionaries. 
My companion was with one of his former companions, and went through one of these villages, and kept going even though the Holy Spirit was telling them to turn back and not continue.  The people invited them inside their houses.  There were no children in this village; only old people.  As my companion and his companion were sitting down in one of these houses with these people, half of the village was gathering firewood and rocks to kill them and cook them underground.  But, a Fijian who had been prompted by Heavenly Father to come in and save them, ran into the village and called out dramatically and frantically for the missionaries, and when he saw them in a house, he feared it might be too late.  The people were trying to keep the missionaries in and telling them not to listen to that guy, but to stay, stay, stay!  The Fijian that came to save them, ran in and pulled them out by their hands and dragged them swiftly out of the village.  He scolded them the entire way home.  They all thanked Heavenly Father, with all their hearts, for saving them.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture, but ! --> Our landlord painted our house GREEN AND RED, FOR CHRISTMAS!!!  It used to be pink.  We arrived home one day and were like..."Right property... wrong house. WOAH! WAIT!THAT'S OUR HOUSE!!!!" 

President Monson sent me a Christmas card!  I thought that was pretty cool!  He sent one out to each missionary. I love him!


We get swords in our mission!  We can chop off people's arms, we can cut down trees, we can mow our lawn with these, we can fend off mad cows or dogs.




I love it!! There are so many mosquitoes!!!  The other night, they were so thick and hungry.  I was sleeping, surrounded by my mosquito net, and they were all buzzing super high-pitched and desperate sounding.  They collect on the net, and I spray them with the bug spray I brought.  I love them.  Heavenly Father was so wise in creating them.  They're magnificent little creatures!  I'm amazed at them!  I am in awe at the thing Heavenly Father can do.  These mosquitoes were so thick and fierce, that I didn't even get out to go brush my teeth and floss that night.  My showers consist of slapping and spraying mosquitoes.. and sometimes I get around to actually cleaning myself.  But, the mosquitoes really are no thicker than they are in Virginia during the Summer.  


Truly when we're serving others, we're only serving ourselves.   When you serve selflessly and love and give your love and time and spirit for another, your spirit fills with light and joy and you receive more than you gave!  Heavenly Father is an acknowledger and eternal and meaningful rewarder of every good deed.  Learn to give yourself for others. Whatever we become here in mortality is meaningless unless it is done for the benefit of others.  Our gifts and talents are given to us to help us serve.  And in serving, we become like Christ.

We are here to help each other, to care for each other, to understand, forgive, and serve one another.  Anything we do to show love is worthwhile: a smile, a word of encouragement, a small act of sacrifice.  We grow by these actions.  We are where we need to be.  We are each receiving more help than we know.  Angels stand near us, waiting to assist us, rejoicing in our accomplishments &joys.  

Language

This week, all the natives, (members, non-members, missionaries, taxi drivers, investigators, etc.,) have been always been so surprised when I tell them I've only been here 3 weeks.  Last week, I was talking to a taxi driver while he drove us somewhere, and he thought I had been here 2 YEARS, and hardly believed me when I said I'd only been here two weeks.  He said my Fijian is native and fluent.  At first, I thought he was just being nice; but then everyone was having the same reaction and saying the same thing!  They are amazed at how well I speak.  The missionaries say that I speak ridiculously good.  I now engage just about any crowd or individual in conversation in their own native Fijian tongue.  I credit this all to Heavenly Father's enabling and strengthening power.  I credit it, humbly and gratefully to you.  Your prayers for me.  Your faith.  I credit it to Him enabling me to work hard, and in my loving to only be out of my comfort zone! To not be afraid to mess up, all the time!   The Lord will enable you, if you trust His love and work joyfully and patiently have perfect and full faith.  As long as you keep walking, you will get their; gloriously and triumphantly!  That's the promise of our lives here in mortality! 

The other day, I sang soprano, sang a Christmas song in Fijian, in front of about 1000 Fijians.  They were amazed and loved it! 


Our lizards in our house are like dogs.  They bite each other's heads playfully, they wag their tails, and they bark.

Cannibals Eat Missionaries!

Hey! It's Elda Brandon Scott Howard, of the Fiji Suva Mission!

  I love you!  8,000 miles from home, I'm sharing the joy of the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. So much has happened this week, and I'm too happy and too excited!!!  

This has literally been the best week of my entire existence so far!  Thanks to this gospel of Jesus Christ, every new day--(&every new week)--of my life is ridiculously and unstoppably, superly joyful and better than the last!!! And this, regardless of circumstances or what trials or difficulties or dangers or illness or disappointment I may EVER face!!! 


Isn't this the kind of message the world needs?  Each eternal and beloved Child of our great and personal, loving Heavenly Father--each one hungers and yearsfor this!!!!

I can testify it works! It's real!  It's lasting and deep ridiculous happiness and meaning and answers to ALL of life's great questions--all the questions your soul hungers for and wishes there were answers to.
Heavenly Father Himself has spoken again in our day and restored personally, all these truths and all that each soul wants and hungers for.  Living prophets who Christ Himself leads and directs and speaks with, lead His church.  The fullness of the gospel is fully true, and each may know for himself, directly from God the Eternal Father.

THIS is what 88,000 joyful, humble, simple, happy young men and women just like me, are doing all over the world at this moment; sharing this gospel, for 2 full years of their lives.  Volunteering at their own expense and support, to forgo all other interests and go out and share this message.  To bless individuals and families!  The message is true and Heavenly Father has prepared it for you, to bless your family now and in eternity!

www.mormon.org, www.lds.org

Please, Ask any missionary in your area!  Ask any member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!  Ask me!

Life is beyond fantastic!!!

Some keys on how to get along and be perfectly friends with ANYONE: 
I get along perfectly and fully with anyone and everyone Heavenly Father puts in my path.  I get along so wonderfully and fully with any companion Heavenly Father sends me to, thanks to His enabling power and sanctifying Spirit.  When we go on exchanges every week, with other areas, and I get to be with other Elders, they sometimes go into it apprehensive and expecting to not get along.  But I pray, smile, am filled with His love for them, serve them with all my joy, love, and heart, and they are taken aback!  They are then filled with the Spirit, and return whatever I send around.  Heavenly Father has taught me, just like in General Conference as they said, "It takes two to contend, and I will never be one of them."  Love your companion too much!  Serve them too selflessly and too much! Pray for them by name.  Pray with them.  Only look at their good and beautiful and admirable--and compliment it and comment about it glowingly, and then they have no desire but to live up to your view of them!  They become what you tell them you admire about them!  They choose to use their own agency to be those positive things they now believe they are and can be!  It's beautiful to watch Heavenly Father work with each individual!  The enabling and strengthening power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the Sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost, make it so that it's impossible to not get along with any individual, regardless of anything-- if these two powers are flooding everything else out, there's only room for light and grace and unity.  Also, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care--so when you choose to not care about your pride and your "being right," and advocating your own viewpoint and being stubborn, you're choosing to be hated by and to hate them. But if you only care about seeing things through their eyes and putting you and them, out of your shoes and in theirs, then they respect you when they see you doing that.  They respect you only caring about their viewpoint and shoes, so much that they will jump equally over to your viewpoint and in your shoes! That always works! That's how I reach oneness and unity with each and any child of God.  

That's one of my favorite things Heavenly Father told me this week!!!!!

Me and Elda Nawahine have decided we want to lead the entire mission in numbers and joy and success.  He says his whole view on life and response to anything that ever happens, has changed completely.  He is now grateful for everything good or bad that happens, and he's constantly and unendingly ridiculously happy like me now!  Our influence upon others, changes them!  Christ told us to shine, so that others could catch on fire from our blaze!  What a joy this restored gospel is!

I burn with testimony of this work!  It's an eternal fire!  I am fully here!  I am fully being used by Heavenly Father, and I love seeing His miracles and hand undeniably and unmistakeable in each hour of each day!

One of these pictures is my room.  I won't tell you which. 

Last Monday, I bought a backpack(those are allowed in this mission,) and a big sandwich.  While buying the backpack, I was prompted to share the gospel with the Fijian lady who helped me choose the backpack in the store I got it from.  I went back in the store to find her and share the gospel with her, and went up to someone who looked so much like her--so much that I thought it was her--and I shared it with this person.  Then, I realized it was a different person!  Heavenly Father had aligned all the details, for this lady to wear the same random dress and be in the same store and look so much like the person I was intending to share the gospel with--so that she could get the gospel!  He's in control of ALL the awesome small details.  We can trust Him fully and completely. Give Him your life, completely and wholly.  DON'T hold anything back! I promise He can make 435645645745635454x more out of you than you even highest hope and dream of making of your life and self.  His way is better! I promise without hesitation or reservation!

Then, I got on a bus to go to our next destination.  I shared the gospel with a wonderful Hindi man, but in getting off the bus, I forgot about my backpack and sandwich!!  When I realized this, I chose to be grateful and happy and amused.  We can choose joy in any moment, all the time!! So why not always choose it!!!? Why choose anything other than gratitude and joy?  CHOOSE JOY, IN EACH MOMENT YOU EVER FIND YOURSELF!  THIS GOSPEL IS THE HOW.  THE WHY. IT'S THE KEY TO OPEN THE POTENTIAL IN OUR LIVES!

I may have lost a $40.00 backpack and a huge sandwich, but I traded it for that guys eternal joy and salvation!  Joyful awesome trade, if you ask me!

About the cannibals... keep reading...!!!