Another week has flown by! We had Interviews with President and Sister Jackman, Exchanges, and we had a fireside this week! It was crazy but seriously so spiritual as well!

Exchanges

This week I went on 2 exchanges! The first one was with 2 elders in my district! I went to their area and it was so fun! It was nice to finally be in car haha but man their area is so beautiful. If you look at the cover of the Hidden Valley Ranch bottle that is Selah, Washington! We were able to teach a lesson to a family they are teaching and man this family has been through it all! Their son, who was actually present during the lesson, had gotten into a serious drunk driving accident which hospitalized him for a sec. We talked about the plan of salvation with them and how God has a plan for each and every one of us and sometimes we go through these hard things to learn and to change! I shared with them that my dad always told me when my family would go through a trial that sometimes Heavenly Father has chosen our family to go through this trial because he knew we could handle it. Maybe another family couldn't have handled it... but that the only way we could handle it is if we stay together and remember that our Heavenly Father is there for us and that the Atonement is real! Trust in the plan and trust that Heavenly Father knows you! It was an awesome exchange overall!

The other exchange that I went on was a special exchange! We went on exchange with the other district leader in the zone! So I got to serve with my dad in the mish, my trainer, Elder Carrasco! It was seriously one of the best exchanges I have gone on! I'm not going to lie but he reignited that fire in me that had got a little dim since my first area! We had like 5 lessons, with members present! We were working so hard and it was so nice to be able to teach with him and to actually be able to understand Spanish and participate the way that I want in the lessons because when he was training me, it was rough lol! But it was so good and I learned a lot!

Missionary Fireside!

Yesterday we had a bomb fireside! So every last Sunday of the transfer we have a fireside for the 2 Spanish branches in our stake and we had such a good turnout! We have recent converts speak and share their conversion story! It's always so spiritual! My zone also sang "Si lo amamos" for the special musical number! It was so good and after we did a little remix as well! The video will be posted to Facebook soon! So be ready haha! Its lit! During Cherry season and during the picking season, Its super hard to get a hold of the people that we are teaching but the Lord definitively blessed our 2 branches because we had way more people than we expected, it was awesome!  President and Sister Jackman were also in attendance! It just went exactly how we wanted it too! #BLESSED

This week was super good though! I hope you all have a good week! 

Con Amor, 

Elder Ka'ili

This week was SWEET! Before I start though just want to wish my dad, uncles and grandpas a Happy Father's Day! I love you all and thankful for the examples that you have set before me to be a great priesthood holder and person! I love you all and hope you guys had the best day! Also a Happy Birthday to my dad and my little brothers! I love you guys so much and cant say it enough!

This week was so good though! We had zone conference this week but we did it a different way! We all came in our P-Day clothes and had time to play sports and games in the morning, which was so nice, haven't been able to play football in a min so it was definitely needed! Shout out to the Jackman's! But after playing for a couple hours we did a lot of team building activities that showed us that this mission isn't suppose to be done as a one man job! We have companions, districts and zones to rely on and to help us out with anything we need! It was the best zone conference ever and the training was tight! Also had to see some of my favorite missionaries give there departing testimonies, it was super sad but also motivated me to be the best missionary I can be at all times because the mission goes quick!

This week I have been able to see how important the priesthood power is in this work! I was able to give 2 blessing this week and if there is anything that testifies to me that this church is true is the Priesthood! I gave one to a member in the branch and also an elder in my district and it is seriously so crazy to be able to be an instrument in the lords hand as you give a blessing and feel the authority and power of the priesthood! Its always the best thing to be able to give blessing!

We were also able to do some service this week! We moved this huge hot tub and them some other things for the same people that we helped last week! This week the cherries trees were popping so everyone was offering us cherries! Not going to lie, it wrecked my stomach the first day because I ate so much but now I'm chilling and I eat so many cherries every day!

I love you all and miss you all! Have a great week!

Con amor,
Elder Ka'ili

This week was packed! I went on exchanges twice with Elder Brunson and Elder Parkin! Elder Parkin is my ZL and Elder Brunson is just in my district, but they were both so good.  I probably had one of my most spiritual lessons and one of the weirdest lessons I have ever been in.. hahaha!

My exchange with Elder Brunson was so good! We had a lesson with a guy named Fernando Mata! He has been through it all and reps norte, but he is trying to change his life and find the right church! He had this super cool experience where he found out that our Savior is real, and then a couple days later the missionaries knocked on his door... fast forward to present time and he was referred to us! Lately me and Elder Barnes have had a hard time to have a really good lesson with him but on exchanges with Elder Brunson we were able to have a sit down lesson with him about the Book of Mormon. IT WAS SO GOOD! He wanted to know how we got our testimonies and how he could get one as well. So we shared our stories and the spirit was so strong. We invited him to find out for himself and he was so pumped to find out about it! The power in the Book of Mormon is unreal and this lesson really strengthened my testimony even stronger!

My exchange with Elder Parkin on the other hand was so weird. We went to this man named Floretino! Man he was everywhere during the lesson and his 10 or 11 year old son was there the whole time saying the funniest things. Straight reminds me of Chancho! The 10 year old mightve had the worst mouth I have ever heard. He was sitting there the whole time eating his saimini and just swearing at his dad. I definitely learned some new words in Spanish for sure haha! But it was weird because the dad knew he had messed up cause he is a Borracho. Half way through the lesson we were talking about the great apostasy and the son just comes up and goes off on his dad again and smacks him in the head hecka hard! I literally looked at Elder Parkin and was like bro lets go before we witness this dad murder his kid... haha but Florentino just got up and hugged his kid and kissed him and was like te amo mijo... hahah I was like shoot if that was a Poly family that kid would've been dead haha! Lol but yeah weirdest lesson ever. Ya tu sabes we finished the lessons and invited him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon so letz go! haha

We did service this week as well for this family that does a lot for the mission! It was super fun! But yeah this week went by super quick! I probably forgot something in here but it was a great week! I love you all!


Con Amor,
Elder Ka'ili

This week was jam packed! We had a specialized training, Doctrine of Christ training for Elder Barnes(turned 7 weeks this week lets go!), ZLC, Saw an old friend from Bingham, Elder Barnes got bit by a dog, and we ate 67 tacos at a dinner(I might have thrown up afterwards but they were still bomb haha!) This week flew by though and was so fun!  

Specialized Training

On Friday we had specialized training for all the south zones! So I got to see some of the Elders that I came in with that I haven't seen for a long time and also some old comps! It was so good! The specialized training was on how we can use family history better in our missionary work.  After we went over our transfer focus which is on The Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson and inviting others to "find out" for themselves! I learned so much.  Elder Barnes and I had a crazy miracle that happened right after specialized training. So after the training we went back to our area and went to one of our people we are teaching. His name is Rafael and he's from Nicaragua. He's super cool! After the lesson, we tested what we learned in specialized training and invited him to baptism. We told him that these next 3 weeks we wanted to come by and help him receive an answer about these things! He surprisingly said he would be baptized if he got an answer, and that he's excited to find out! Elder Barnes and I were like, shoot man that was so smooth! It was sweet! 

Doctrine of Christ 

Even though this was my 3rd time going to Doctrine Of Christ, it was still as good as when I went my first time when I was 7 weeks old! Every time I go I just get so pumped to go out and do more missionary work! It all starts with us, we have the knowledge and so we need to share it with everyone, so that they can receive the fullness of joy that we feel! We are the ONLY church that has the correct way to get back to our Heavenly Father and so it's so important for us to share it with everyone! Quick Scripture drop: D&C 88:81 "Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor." 

Elder Barnes first dog bite 

Hahaha so quick funny story... so the other day we were tracting and we came up to a house and a huge dog came up to the fence but it didn't bark... so Elder Barnes was like let's go in and I was like nahhhh I'm not down. That dog was just too calm haha. So I'm like, "No let's go to the other house and so I start walking. I turn around and see Elder Barnes put his arm out to pet the dog and bang! the huge dog bites his arm. Hahaha. I just started dying laughing. Haha I told him, " Mijo, I told you not to do it and now you have to pay the price!" Or in other words like my Uncle Joe would say, " YOU GONNA LEARN TODAY LITTLE BOY." Haha sometimes you have to touch the oven to know its hot! I told him this ain't no regular dogs in this area, these are Mexican dogs!  Lol! He was alright after but I couldn't stop laughing! Such a good time! 

This week was so good though! I love you all and hope y'all have a good week! 

Con amor, 

Elder Ka'ili