Goodbye's!

So a new transfer has started... and both my companion and I are staying! So why the title of the email? First off, we have an elder who is VISA waiting in our mission, and has been here for a while now, he's probably one of the most legendary elder's I've every met. In the 3 months he's been here, him and his companions have just "smashed" their area (in a good way). And after 3 months of him stressing and people losing the documents he needed, he's finally got everything he needs and his VISA in Japan should be here on Thursday! So we got to go into the heart of Brisbane City on Monday, and into the Japanese Embassy, to help him sort things out. It was pretty cool.

Since he's preparing to leave, last pday we went bowling, and went to a "sushi train" restaurant, where I felt like I was in heaven for a bit, feasting on fish and rice and many other asian foods... it was great. We also got to play a few games of bowling that day! This past district meeting he gave a powerful departing testimony, and now we're all kinda said that we're about to lose this elder and that we have to say our goodbyes before he flies to Japan.

And more goodbyes! A YSA in the stake used to work a lot with us (and also buy us KFC and McDonalds when we didn't have dinner), and now he's leaving on his mission (today) to New Zealand! So we went to say goodbye to him, and got to witness his family and friends perform a Haka for him, which was pretty powerful. Probably woke up the whole neighbourhood but it was definitely worth it, probably one of the coolest ways to send someone off on a mission.

And finally! I've been searching for ages for someone who's from Hawaii. We started teaching English classes to these Colombian people, and we found out that they lived in Hawaii for 11 years, and that some of them knew my Grandfather when he was a temple President! So, even though some might not consider them "Locals" of Hawaii, I'm considering my search complete.

Well, other than that, nothing crazy has happened this past week, just the usual missionary work stuff.

Anyways, spiritual thought for today? Obedience. Why does the Lord give us commandments, why should we follow them? There's lots of deep answers you can give, lots of complex ones, but I like Joseph Smith's quote - "When the Lord commands, do it". It's quite simple.

Thanks everyone for your love and support,

Elder Ho