The worst best time of the year

Well this was an insane week! But hopefully you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed your time with your family and friends! 

Well I got my new Companion this week. Elder VanShaar is fresh from the MTC and is doing well! It’s fun to get to know another person and get different perspectives about how to go about doing God’s work. He likes basketball, baseball, and to read scriptures. His talent is memorizing scriptures. He’s super smart regarding the scriptures! It’s a cool talent. 

Wednesday night we met up with this part member family and made Lau Lau with them in preparation for Thanksgiving! It was so much fun to learn how to make it and not only watch but be involved in the process. It was also a wonderful opportunity we had to get to know them better and build relationships. When we got there they were kinda tense or not as comfortable. But by the end the invited us over again for a list of activities and stuff they had coming up. It was so cool how the situation worked out!

Thanksgiving in Hawaii... Not sure if it was living a fairy tale or a living night mare... We ate so many wonderful meals with some of my favorite foods and deserts. Tried lots of new things, but man it was way beyond too much. I felt like an over filled water balloon about to pop. We had one dinner scheduled but ended up eating at 5 dinners... it was a painful day eating that much! Things we ate: All the normal stuff we have back home, blue crab, Lau Lau, Shang Hi rolls, po'i, poke, fried fish, and many other local things that have just become normal food now haha. It was so yummy! Pretty sure I legitimately gained 10 lbs that day... These holiday seasons are the best and so enjoyable but they are also the worst the second you decide to step on a scale!

Now to the most exciting part of the week, Sunday we had a Baptism! Gideon and Wyatt are brothers we have been teaching. They have been awesome and progressing so much! Gideon is 13 and Wyatt is 8. We have been teaching them both while we were there as well as the rest of the family. Gideon and Wyatt were baptized Sunday! It was such a special experience. The spirit was so strong as they made covenants with our Heavenly Father. They are such a good example to everyone around them! They taught me so much as we visited together!! It was such an amazing day!

D&C 112:10: "Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by thy hand, and give thee answers to thy prayers" What better guide through life can we have than Jesus Christ guiding us by our hand step by step through the good times and the bad? Through the happy days and the sad, through the ups and the downs. All we must do is humble ourselves and do what he asks. If it is such a simple and easy thing to do then why is it so hard to strip ourselves of our pride and accept the fact we need help from our savior? We need help from those he has sent to minister to us. This is what I pondered this week. How can I strip myself of my pride and humble myself to the Lord. I testify as we do this we will be led by him. He will answer our prayers. We will find direction, peace, and satisfaction. It is only through our decisions and our actions we can receive the promised blessings the Lord has in store for us. What are we willing to do to improve ourselves by humbling ourselves? 

I am so grateful for all the support I have been shown over the last 18 years! If it wasn’t for all my Family and Friends and their constant support I know I would be far from a mission today! Happy Thanksgiving! I love you guys so much and wish you the best this week in all your endeavors! Be humble and kind! (Wow it’s been a while since I heard that song lol) Enjoy your week!

Elder Porter

Honolulu, Hawaii 

 Elder VanShaar and Elder Porter

 Digging holes to put fish guts in.

Gideon and Wyatt

Elder Porter and Kepa

 

Food 

 

Kicked outta the nest, and time to fly

Aloha everyone! How’s your week been? I hope you are all enjoying your time and excited for thanksgiving this week! 

This was a good week full of lots of events! From interviews with the President and new callings, to goodbyes, to fish and farm service and funky foods. 

From Interviews: Elder Siaosi and I were super curious what would happen at transfer time due to what President was hinting haha. Anyways Elder Siaosi got called to be a Zone Leader in Makakilo on Oahu. I got called to be a Trainer and will pick him up from the airport tomorrow. So both of us are excited for the opportunity to receive these callings and have the opportunity to serve in different ways. 

This week for fish service with Uncle Earl we were on exchanges so Elder Pugh got to experience it too! Haha It was soo funny watching him work! He was doing awesome until the fish part came. After words he looks at me and says "Not gunna lie, I almost puked on the first bag" haha yeahhh that’s fish service for you! I keep forgetting but I’ll take pics of it this week so you all can see what I’m talking about!

We had a Family Genealogy Night this week where we invited everyone from the community to come and bring a story of their family history or history of Kohala. We also had 3 of the old timers speak about their camp life here growing up and the sugar plantation and all of that. It was so awesome to hear about all the times past and learn tons of the history in Kohala. I look forward to the next one we hold as we make this a quarterly thing for the community here in Kohala. I enjoyed that evening a lot! 

On Sunday, Elder Siaosi and I were asked to speak in the YSA Branch in Wiamea. It was such an awesome experience! The branch is small but growing, but the spirit was so strong and touching! I was asked to speak on Agency and Accountability and Elder Siaosi was asked to speak on Example. It is something that I thought was very good for this time of year, as the holidays come we have many opportunities to exercise our agency and to do it righteously. We have many ways to be an example to our children, friends, family, and those around us. Each one of us can be a leader and example. It is just our choice if it’s for good or for bad. 

"Agency is great...until you make a wrong decision" -Sister Wilson lol

  

Heber J Grant’s slogan is as follows: "That which we persist in doing becomes easy to do; not that the nature of the thing has changed, but that the power to do has increased" Let us persist in doing good, persist in being an example, and persist to fulfill our duties to share the gospel and come unto Christ. As we persist to do so we call down the powers of Heaven through humble prayers and receive strength to overcome our weaknesses. I know the gospel is true. I know we cannot go through life on our own. We must seek Heavenly help to push the natural man away and turn outwards as Disciples of Christ. Find your weaknesses and persist to make them strengths. Be the best person you can be. 

I love you all and am so grateful for the Love and Support I have received. I Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and count your blessings and show gratitude for them all. Take this time and have an "attitude of gratitude." You are awesome! The gospel is true, and God loves you. 

Elder Porter

Honolulu, Hawaii 

My district plus 4. Elders: Owens, Harmon, Vete, Cronin, Nunn, Pugh, Siaosi, Sisters: Barber and Brandenberg.

 

Kamehameha Statue, Kapaau, Hawaii

 Elder Siaosi is being transferred to Makakilo, Oahu. He will be a zone leader.

 

This is the Corotan Family. Elder Porter is teaching them and loves spending time with them.  They take really good care of the Elders. The Elders are so grateful for them and grateful for Sis Corotans good cooking. :)