6 Months later, up in Whangarei

Hello everyone! It's been a crazy week and yes this is late cause it's Tuesday here right now haha. We had zone conference so things got a little pushed back. BUT some news. I got transferred again! I am now up in the Northland of Whangarei. (For those back home, the WH here makes an F sound.) It is BEAUTIFUL up here. Very green, lots of hills. HEAPS of driving. And the stars up here, are breath taking! In one of my flats (yes multiple flats) I can lay on the roof and see the stars more clear than ever. And I get to see like half of the Stake too because I cover 3 branches! Which are all MASSIVE!!! But me and my comp make it fun and like to jam in the car. Speaking of him, his name is Elder Andrew from Aus. He has only been out on the mission for 6 weeks now. Little bit of a difference. He had a rough first transfer so I need to try and help him get into the work!! And we have the Same BIRTHDAY!! How cool right?? But he is a year older than me but STILL cool.

So the night I got transferred up here we went to this little hill by the beach that is 2 minutes from our flat. And I burned my tie! 6 months of my mission has already cruised by! I love how this has gone so far. I wouldn't change it for the world. It is a great experience :) With the season coming up I'd like to invite all of you to check out the new video the Church has come out with. It's all about following the Savior and how we can life again. There is two of them actually and they are both amazing :)

There is a lot to be done up here and I am super super excited to be apart of it and to watch these 3 branches grow!

I love and miss you all so much and hope you have a wonder week!!!

Weeks going by!

Yo yo everyone!! Hows life going this week?? This week was alright, nothing special. Comp still being a little lazy and disobedient so I had to work with that but it was pretty good! We had a lot of time with some members this week and it's really good to bond with them and see the support. And I've come to realize that it is very easy to waste the little time we have out here on the mission sharing the gospel. That is the biggest responisblity we have as members is to share the gospel whatever chance we get! And as a missionary you may think "That's what you do all day it's easy to do and say that." Honestly it's so hard. Satan tries very hard to tempt us to just sleep 5 more minutes, or not talk to this person cause they don't look nice. But we have to push to the limit and be exact. The Lord has given us the chance to share the gospel so we need to be exact when it comes to it. As members we all can do that too. In the places you go every day, work, the gym, the store, the toilets, everywhere! Share the Gospel! Just open your mouth and share something small! It can plant the seed and have a change on that person. My challenge for you all this week is to spark a conversation about the Gospel and BoM with a non member friend or co worker. See what can come from it. I promise it will be smooth and the Lord will help you with that challenge.

I could be emailing from another area next week so I will keep you all updated on that!!:)

Love you all and until next week!! 

Week 4 in Otahuhu

Hello once again from way down here :)

This week was chill. Not a whole lot going on still but we are still trying hard to find and do the work. My comp is a little disobedient with everything so it's a good challenge for me. But I know it will only strengthen me and make me a better missionary! 

This week we have a lot of good potential with some random people we've met so I am looking forward to working with them this week and trying to help them come unto Christ!

This weekend we had a missionary weekend as a stake and it was awesome! On Friday we had workshops to show members what the easy ways to do missionary work are and how they can help us out. We had a really good turn out in the English class and me and my zone leader had a lot of fun teaching that.

Saturday we took the youth out on splits and knocked some doors with them haha. I took out this young man named Joshia and we had some fun. We knocked over 20 doors and I threw him on the spot. He was super nervous and was joking with me that he couldn't believe I did that to him haha. But he did a awesome job and we had fun. The second session I got to go out with our Stake President, President Pulu and a youth named Eryk. We went on a long walk and visited some Less Actives and shared some good stories with one another. It was really fun.

Sunday we had a Special Area Wide Broadcast for Church covering New Zealand and Aus. There must be some good work to be done here cause we are having all kinds of special meetings! But we had the chance to hear from Elder Quentin L. Cook of the 12 so that was really fun! And at night we finished the weekend off with a Fireside for investigators to come and see what our church is like and how it has blessed others lives.

The work is picking up here and it's good to see!! I love you all so much!

Have a happy 29th tomorrow cause it doesn't come too often ;)

Atonement.

Hello everyone once again from the land of the long white cloud as people call it here. Or how the locals say it Aotearoa.

Well this week has been average haha. Nothing new in the area really. A lot needs to be done to get moving. Just a lot of stuff I need to whip into shape. My comp and self included haha. But overall I am still enjoying it out here. 

We had a specialized training this week with another zone and president. They told us the goal for our mission for baptisms this year. 950!!!! They did the math and they told us that is 4.7 or 5 baptisms per missionary. That is achievable without a doubt! It's crazy that this year is fully dedicated to missionary service for me. There will never be a year, 366 days in a year that I get to serve as a full-time servant and I'm super excited for it! And sadly 2 months have already passed away in this year! It's crazy!!

So this week we had the chance to have that training and President talked about how we need to work harder and everything. You know, telling us we can do more, which is really true. But when he was closing, the Spirit came and drilled my heart with his love. And I learned something very special and I want to share.

He talked about the love that the Saviour has for us and what he went through for us. He shared 4 scriptures, Luke 22:41-44, Mark 14: 33, D&C 19: 16-19, and Mosiah 3:7. In these scriptures it talks about Christ suffering the Atonement. And what he really went through. Pay attention to the footnotes. In one of them it says that even he was amazed by the pain he felt as he just sat there. But it was impossible for Him to die from that pain and suffering, because he had to finish His mission that His Father sent him here to do. So he just sat there and suffered for all of us. Every single pain we have ever felt, the Saviour has felt and even more all at once. And he just sat there and had to suffer for us because he couldn't do anything more. I know that he did that for us. He performed the greatest gift and event in ALL of history, the Atonement. I know that he truly loves us, and I never looked at how much pain he went through until then. 

I love you all and I hope that you will take some time this week to really see what the Atonement is and what it has done for you in your life.

I know I am out here to share this wonderful gift with the people of Auckland. Use the Atonement every day and move forward.

I love you all and will talk to you next week!!:)

Week in a Blur.

Hello! Once again it's P-day and I'm writing this email. It's crazy how time starts to go faster and faster every day. This week was good. Pretty average honestly. Not a whole lot going on here but we are trying harder and harder every day. This area is really good. Lots of loving members and fun kids to mess with. But I miss teaching so much. We had a worldwide conference as missionaries and it talked how our purpose is to Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts. I feel like I need to do more with the work and get moving with helping people! I love the work here but it is a challenge haha. Some people won't even take 5 seconds to say hello back to us. It's a mind game for sure. But I am super happy to be here to be serving my Father in Heaven. As we walk every where, time goes fast, and people go by every day who need to hear the Gospel. I love the work that I've been sent here to do and I am ready to help everyone I can to bring them to the Fullness of the Gospel. I know that this Church is true and that people here in the Otahuhu ward need to hear it from me!!

The week is going faster and faster every single week. It's crazy it's been over 5 months. I don't want to be any where else!! I love you all and will talk to you soon!!

OTARA

Hello all once again. This was a good week for me and my comp because we were able to take part in a convert baptism!! Her name is Ella-Jade. She is a wonderful 10 year old girl who wanted to join her Grandma and Grandpa in church! She is so funny and seeing her after the baptism she just had a new glow about her! I was truly honored to take part of her baptismal program. She is a wonderful girl! 

There is heaps of work to do in the Otahuhu area and I'm excited to be a part of it! My comp and I are going to bring some amazing things to this area in this up coming week! I know it for sure!! 

Thanks for all the love and support over these 5 months! It's been crazy how much I've seen and done. I miss you all and am truly grateful for all of you!

Until next week!

Much Love! 

On The Move

Well this last week I said goodbye to the wonderful Blockhouse Bay ward. I spent 3 transfers there and I loved it there! It will always hold a place in my heart! But now I am moving my (somewhat) talents to the Otara Stake! I am now serving in the Otahuhu ward in South Auckland! It is a great little place and there is heaps of work to do here with the members and their friends!! The ward is super supportive of me and my companion and with the new Pacific Area vision/plans for 2016 there will be some major miracles coming our way in the whole Pacific!

We had the wonderful chance to listen to Elder D. Todd Christofferson as a mission combined with the Hamilton mission. You could just feel the spirit change when he walked into the room. And when we got to shake his hand and look into his eyes and he read our name tags, you can just feel and see the love from him! He is truly an Apostle of the Lord and a special witness that Jesus is the Christ and Saviour. I'm super grateful for the chance I had to meet him. His plane ride actually got cancelled due to weather so he decided to gather the missions and come speak haha. He gave a lot of insight but the one that I wanted to share is about the Book of Mormon and his testimony. He kept saying how important the BoM is. And it made me think of how much I love and cherish the BoM. I haven't read it a massive number of times. But I have read it enough to know that it is true. I read from it every day and gain more and more love each time. The BoM is what sets our church apart from every other church out there. It is so special and we should be reading it daily. Even if it is just a column a day, it is what we as members should do. And then of course pray about it and gain that personal love and testimony that it is the word of God. I challenge you all to continue to read and pray about the BoM. 

His testimony really touched my heart also. He told the missions that he will wave to us from the screen haha. But He told us that we can all say that we have heard his testimony in person. An apostle of the Lord. He testified to us that Jesus is the Christ and that He lives. That this is His true living church today. And it was the most powerful testimony I have ever heard. I know he is called of God and that this is the true church.

I'm excited for this new chapter in my mission! It will be a fun one! Even tho I get fed heaps from the members, walking and biking will keep me in shape ;)

Love you all! Have a good week!!!