Weeks 2 & 3

Hello everyone!! SO this email will probably be long since I haven't gotten the chance to email in about two weeks!! So I made it to NEW ZEALAND!!! I didn't know if I'd be coming here until the morning I was suppose to leave. Pretty crazy stuff if you ask me really. I absolutely loved the MTC!! I made so many great connections and miss everyone there so much. I don't know if I could do it for more than 3 or 4 weeks but it was a blast. The MTC Nothing super crazy happened until my last night. Our zone of elders had a rap battle going and it was super sweet. But right as 10:15 hit we had to go to our rooms. But it was a really good night. So my roomies dropped me off at the travel place at about 11:30. Got all checked in and everything and got on a bus to the Provo FrontRunner Station. I was hanging out with Elder Hunter and he was the only other elder going to New Zealand. So we were kind of comforting one another. It was super harder again with lots of doubt doing this and how fast I could of gotten home. But I am staying with it no matter what!! At the airport we were just chilling and I saw Sister Nikki Flink!! She was just getting home and when she read my name tag she was in total shock to see me!! It was good to see someone from home, rough, but good!! In San Francisco I finally got some food and was able to just relax a little bit. On the plane it was super nice. I had an empty seat next to me and an old guy at the window. So we had room and we talked. The safety video was very strange.. It was like some All Blacks players doing something as Men In Black with that movie? Idk super weird, I was mostly talking to the dude next to me. For the first our I was messing around with the screen in front of me and watch the first part of Lord of the Rings. Then I wanted to sleep so I turned on Monsters U and was out very fast after dinner. They gave us like roast and potatoes, actually wasnt that bad. Then I was out. When I woke up I tried to go back to sleep but I wasn't overly comfortable. So I turned on Toy Story 1 and watched that whole thing all the way through! Just kind of relaxed for a while.

We get into Auckland at about 6:30 am on Wednesday. Major jet lag. Elder and Sister Reeves (Our mission secretaries) came and picked us up and took us to the MTC here. Being there I felt like I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as Provo. Very very small and there's like no where to go, youre in a box. But there I met up with Elder Berger, Nakamura, and Kessinger! They are all from Utah so it was fun to see them. We left the MTC and went to One Tree Hill. It was this big hill with a monument on it and we could look out on basically our whole mission. So the AP's and Pres Balli talked to us there but it was really cold so we left fast. We went to the Mission office in Takapuna and had a little intro and interviewed with the President. There we got our debit card and some other info that we needed. They then took us to a Motel were I finally got to sleep for only an hour and a half but it was better than nothing!! After that we went to the mission home and kind of had a testimony meeting and dinner. 

The next day we went to the mission home at about 7:30 for breakfast. After a little instruction President Balli announced our companions and areas. My comps name is Elder Murdock from South Jordan Utah! We went to a stake center for a transfer meeting and that's when I first met him!! So we went through the whole meeting and blah blah stuff. Then we went to our flat. We have a car!! It's super nice like a 2014 Corolla. Our flat isn't anything special. Just one bedroom and small living room and a kitchen and bathroom. Nothing crazy. We kind of sat there and waited for the zone leaders to come by and they brought the whole herd! They raided our kitchen and just chilled with us. It was good to see other elders. Then right off the bat it was time for work! We didn't do much besides just talking with people on the streets and he was showing me the area. Then at night we met with a girl named Joe. She's Chinese and is here for work. But she was so interested! She wanted to know more and more and it was just her first lesson. We talked about the Restoration and she totally understood. we were talking and everything and I got to give her the Baptismal Invite!!!! and she said YES!! But shes moving like next week... so we can't help her there. But it was still so cool!! Any who, the rest of the week was super good. Just getting to know the area and talk with people. The work here is somewhat slow but needs to be done. I will inform more next week on anything crazy but I think I'd rambled enough!! 

I love you all and I will talk with you soon!!

Meeting President and Sister Bali

The new Sisters and Elders at One Tree Hill

Elder Maughan and Elder Berger

Meeting his new companion Elder Murdock