Called to Serve

     Our first week as a senior couple has been an eye opening experience, in many ways. We are assigned as member & leader support (MLS) missionaries to two wards on the windward side of the island of Oahu, Olomana and Waimanalo. They both meet in the same chapel, one is at 8 am, and the other is at 11 am. The Saints in our wards are very friendly, kind hearted and easy to talk to. We will need to build trust however, because we can tell most of them are hesitant to talk about their problems and especially other people's needs. It is a cultural thing that we need to overcome to start helping those we are called to serve.


    Without a lot of brothers and sisters that we've been asked to visit yet by elders quorum and relief society, we directed our efforts towards finding opportunities to serve others through volunteer organizations. On Wednesday our zone was assigned to assist at the Food Pantry, and we handed out groceries to over 500 families. We were so impressed with their operation that we volunteered to help them every week! We made contact with several other groups that do community service, but it will take a lot of time and persistence on our part to become actively engaged in Christlike service, because volunteer groups tend to be slow to respond to offers for help, along with the island culture of not being in a hurry. 

    The one word that best describes our first week as full time missionaries is PATIENCE. We left the MTC charged up and ready to change the world, but the reality is these things take time. It is very important for us to make friends and and build lasting relationships first, and trust in God that His blessings, tender mercies and mighty miracles will follow as we love others as Jesus Christ loves them. "Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, PATIENCE, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence." D & C 4:6

    

We love it here in Hawaii, we feel so blessed to be where we are, and doing what Heavenly Father wants us to do at this time of our life. We have a lovely apartment, we are making lots of new friends and meeting hundreds of people. We're learning to slow down, and take the time to focus on the one, by listening to people and engaging them in conversation so they know that we really care about them. We're trying to follow the Savior's example, because after all Jesus wasn't in a hurry, and didn't have a wristwatch.

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