Heaven must be just like this‏

Matthew Prina (matthew.prina@myldsmail.net)
Mon 7/19/10 8:00 PM

-sorry this is last weeks email but I never got to send It because the computer kicked me off-
Brothers and sisters, good morning and aloha!
Today I would like to tell you a story. Two weeks ago we had an island wide mission conference where all the Missionaries on Oahu gathered at the Kalihi stake center to bid farewell to our beloved mission President Steven m. Peterson and his wife Cathy Peterson who we have come to love so much. After hearing them both speak we sang them Aloha oe (which is like Hawaii's version of "God be with you till we meet again") and they gave each missionary a hug and took a picture with them. We got home from the conference around 3:00 and decided to do our studies since we didn't have time to do them in the morning. When we finished studying went back out to work we checked the messages on our phone. To our surprise a man had called us and said "hello this is Kirk Kaopuiki calling in regards to see if I could get in touch with some missionaries, I'm looking forward to getting baptized..." He went on to explain that his wife was already a member and that they had recently moved into our area from Laie. He even explained the reasons why he wanted to get baptized saying that he wanted to be closer to God and he wanted to be sealed to his family. My companion and I listened to the message about 20 times trying to figure out who's voice it was (assuming it was another missionary), Elder Simnitt used to leave these kinds of messages all the time. We finnaly got in touch with him and came to the conclusion that he was real. The next day we set a Baptismal date with him for the following Saturday. He had been taught by missionaries and been to church many times before in Laie but was never really serious about it until now. He is a big Hawaiian guy, he's taller than me and well built. He has a Porsche and a Harley (his wife's name is Porche and his daughters name is Harley). We taught him everything he needed to know in the following week (which he already knew most of) and had his baptismal interview. Elder Naulu baptized him on Saturday the Tenth and I gave a talk about the Gift of the Holy Ghost, then I got to give him the Gift of the holy ghost yesterday in sacrament meeting and confirm him. In my talk I quoted Dad's email when he posed the question "why are members of the church the only ones who can have the gift of the holy ghost?". Bro. Pharis really liked it and made me give him a copy. Kirk was definitely a miracle, there hasn't been a baptism in Pearl City for almost a year now. I know the lord is blessing Elder Naulu and I for all our hard work. The rest of our district is doing really good too, the other two companionship's both have people getting baptized in the coming weeks.
-sorry I didn't get this to you last week-
Love,
Elder Prina