Another Week Gone, Wooooooooo

Hello all. 

This week, it's about time it's over haha. Our baptism didn't happen sadly. Bills dad took away his permission a few days before the baptism happened. So that started the week off pretty bad haha. Then a few days later I got sick. And one of our zone leaders was sick too so him and I just stayed home all day long. So that was another blah of a day. The weekend was alright. Heaps and Heaps and even Heaps more of service. It feels so good to be out in the sun. It's the best to get out and just serve in anyway I can. It's my favourite thing to do is just serving and helping people have things be better for them. Just seeing their faces and hearing the gratitude in their voice is the best. That's what this time of year and a mission is all about! 

I wanna encourage everyone to keep up with the Light the World calendar and do all you can to serve other people and make their lives better. I know the Lord will bless yous as you do so.

Sorry this is pretty short but not much to report this week haha.

Love you all!!!

Elder Maughan

#LighttheWorld!

Hello!

This week was just another week. Lots of good things to come so this email wont be very exciting haha. But I'm still doing good and am happy where I am. Things are all going well. 

Bill's baptism is a go for this coming weekend so that's gonna be pretty awesome! He is golden. Since the first day we met him he was prepared and ready to go! Pictures will be coming of that next week so look forward to those!

Christmas is kind of in the air here haha. Sunshine all day long, sweat a lot, that's what Christmas is right?? Haha it's a great time of year to be here! But I wanna make sure you all share your light this month! I'm sure you've heard of the church's new theme and seen the new video. I absolutely love it. Jesus Christ made the world a better and brighter place, and I know we all have the chance to do the same. If you haven't seen the events and the video go to mormon.org and see what I'm talking about!! There's so many people out there in the world, wherever we may be, that need Christ in their lives. And now is the best time of the year to bring Christ into their life. So Please do all you can to be that explain to those around you!! I know you are all some of the best people the Lord as to help in this great work! SO please LIGHT THE WORLD!!!:)

I love you all! Have a good week and stay warm!!!:)

Elder Maughan

Thanksgiving in NZ

Hey friends and family. I hope you all had a good week and heaps of food. 

Our week here was good. Lots of progression coming with our investigators. We are looking forward to a very White December in the Lincoln ward!;) But the Lord has really prepare a lot of people for my companion and I and we're excited to work with them and see them grow! Couldn't wish for anything better here :)

Everything is good here. Our investigators are all awesome. We were really happy this week with Bill! He is getting baptized on the 10th of this month! He is smart as. He is really interested and wants to set a good example for everyone. He is gonna do big things in the world and the gospel one day. I'm very proud of him and the steps he is taking!! 

Abby and CC are doing good. They're so fun to teach and hear their questions. They are some of the most random questions I've ever heard haha. But I love them. They'll be getting baptized this month as well hopefully. That's ours and their plans, just need to get a date to work for the family haha.

My new companion is the man. He's different, but I love him haha. I'm glad to be working with him! Our area is the best haha. I love it here and all the members here. I'm glad to be here for a while!

Thanks for all your love and prayers! They are very very needed haha. 

Love you all! Have a good week!!!:)

Elder Maughan

November= Guy Fawkes??

Hello all once again! I hope you all had a good Halloween and week! This week was good for us. Abby and CeCe are on track for baptism next week! The whole family came to church this week and we were really happy. These two girls are crack ups haha. We love teaching them every week. We got a new investigator this week too! His name is Bill. He's keen as! He's only 15 and he keeps talking about how he wants to serve a mission one day. He's uncle is in our ward on a mission in Perth right now so that's how we found him!! He was at church too. 

Our week has given us a lot of good things to there from and to work on. We are really looking forward to finishing this transfer off strong and working towards our few baptisms coming up soon!!

On Saturday we had our ward Christmas Party (early right??) But it was so fun and really good to get the entire ward together and we had a lot of fun. And that day was also a New Zealand holiday called Guy Fawkes. Not really sure what it's for, some guy tried to blow something up and that's why they celebrate it or something?? Not quite sure. But we were able to get up on our zone leaders roof and watch the fireworks through the whole valley. It was so cool to see everything!! 

Well I'd really love to hear from some of you! Letters are much appreciated!! ;) ;) Love you all!!

Elder Maughan 

Happy Halloween with a Great Week

Hey everyone! This week was awesome! We got started from square one and just got going with all we could for the work. We went through the area book, the ward list, and just hit the streets! We talked to over 20 different people each day. We were just out knocking doors, talking to anyone we could see on the streets. We had so much fun.

This week I also had the chance to do a trade off with Elder Seelos from Bountiful. He's an egg, but we had so much fun haha. We rode the train and ran in the rain, in our, suits so we weren't late for our meeting. It was super fun.

We have so many people to go back to this week to teach them. A lot said we can come and share a message. Some seem keen as, some seem like they just wanted to be nice haha. But that's okay we will still try!!

Time is going to fast. Can't believe it's November tomorrow! I love it so much here. This place has a place in my heart forever.

I love you all once again!

Elder Maughan

Summer is Near

Hello all once again! I hope you all had a good week.

This week for us was very hot. It was up and down with the work, but very hot. Summer is right around the corner! 

We had kind of a low week. But were able to teach our key people. The Courts family, Annette, and the Leiataua family. They are all moving at their own place which we are happy about. Elder Ponce and I are eager to go out and get the job done better this week! The Lord has given us a lot of potential that we wanna make sure we don't let slip through the cracks. Lincoln has heaps of potentials! Especially with our Trunk or Treat this week!! I'm looking forward to that just to have fun with the ward! 

Sorry this one was so short! We are running low on time! Have a good week! Love you all!!!

Elder Maughan

The Sunshine is Coming

Kia Ora one and all once again! Life down here is as wonderful as always!

This last week was good. Better than last week that's for sure! We are starting to pick up the work and the slack again so we are excited as!

We have 2 young girls set for baptism at the moment. Abby and Cici. They are crack ups and very fun to mess with! We were able to teach them the Plan of Salvation this week. It was hard because every little thing distracts them and two ducks came walking up to the door and they wanted to feed them haha. But we were able to get it all back and had a really powerful lesson! The only problem we are having is committing mom and dad to come to church. We will try our best! They all want the girls to get baptized, just need to help with the motivation!

We've also been working really close with one of our less actives and part member family. The dad served in the Philippines so my comp really loves him haha. But he is the man. Really humble and really loving. We go over there heaps and play basketball with him and his son then have a sit down with him, his wife To'o and his son Jonathan. To'o has heaps of questions and very strong in her church. But she's really sweet and funny. We have high hopes for them!

Updates on Clinton and Lydia. They are doing awesome. Since they've been baptized they've been doing really. Lydia has been baptized just over a month and has already read the whole Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants! She's taking it all in and is suppose to be going to the temple for baptisms this month or next! Clinton is still going strong. Working with him to prepare him for the priesthood now! 

Other than that, things are all good here! We are having heaps of fun and moving along!

My love and prayers go out to all of you!

Elder Maughan

Transfers and Conference

Hello all once again! I can't believe six weeks have already! Time is going crazy fast, but slow at the same time. My companion Elder Ponce and I are very blessed and happy to stay we are staying together in the Lincoln Ward for 6 more weeks! We are very happy and have lots of work to do here still! But we are really happy and excited to see what miracles the Lord has in store for Lincoln this transfer! We had a slow week because we both are kind of sick. I've had a nasty cough and head aches and my companion is still having head issues. But we are determined to start the week strong. Even though we have doctor appointments haha. But we will have a good week and good transfer!

We had an amazing weekend with transfers. So many questions answered and great experiences happened! One thing we were both really happy with was seeing our recent converts, Lydia and Clinton, there participating! Lydia was writing heaps and heaps of notes. Since she's been baptized last month she has read the whole Book of Mormon AND D&C!!! We have a goal with her to be in the temple this month for baptisms!!!

For myself, I'm happy! I'm hoping to keep growing and learning more and more. I have no idea what the Lord has in store for me, but I'll keep doing what He wants of me. We will see what comes with the next few weeks! 

We have high expectations for this transfer! Can't believe how fast time is going, but I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else!

Thanks for all the love and support! I hope you all took something from conference and have started to apply it to your lives!!

I love you all! have a good week!!

Elder Maughan

Another Soul Joins the Lord

Hello everyone once again!:)

I hope you all had a wonderful week and enjoyed conference! I can't wait for it! We get to watch it this weekend so I'm way excited! I need the spiritual recharge haha. Even though this last week was really uplifting, I still need it!

So this week started out super super long. We honestly felt like it was dragging for ages haha. But once Thursday came around things started to pick up. But the best day came on Saturday! Brother Clinton Ewington was BAPTIZED!!! And he asked me to baptize him. It was such a blessing. My companion and I were so excited for him to finally make this commitment. He has come a real long way haha. But we were so happy for him. He said he felt like a new person when he was talking to some members. That just stregthened my testimony that we have the real Priesthood Authority of God. And I'm very grateful that he's given me the chance to hold that authority.

Well transfers on Wednesday!!!!!!!!!! Guess we'll see what happens! But for now, that's all I have!

Love you all!!

Elder Maughan 

End of September = Daylight Savings

Hello once again from the beautiful land of New Zealand, Auckland, Henderson, Lincoln. We had a meh week with my Soa being sick from his fall last week. But we were still able to have some good things come forward.

We were able to meet with a lot of part member families. We have follow up appointments this week with them. They have all been taught most of the gospel, and have been to church a few times. Just hard to get them to commit to anything. But we are really happy to be able to work with them and to help them move forward. 

This weekend coming we have a baptism!!! Brother Clinton Ewington is going to be making the sacred covenant with the Lord! He's been fun to teach and has really helped me and my companion grow and learn more and develop new skills, like patience. Lots of patience. BUT we are really excited.

We had daylight savings yesterday. For some reason we all thought it would be lighter this morning so we could go play some touch. Nope haha. We got our times mixed up. But now people will be a little more open at night time and the nights will be much better. Crazy to think that this is how it was last year, and I'm on repeat now! 

Well I love you all! Have a good week and enjoy conference! 

Elder Maughan

Fast as Week

Hello all. I can't believe this week already came to an end. I feel like I was just writing yesterday. But everyone says once you hit the hump it goes much faster, I can truly testify to that after one week haha. 

It was a good week. Just an average one to be honest. After last week we just kind had a slower week. Investigators are still moving a long. Clinton is still golden for the 1st. He is very good at giving detailed stories. The Pinono family is doing good too. They are just super busy since Myles is playing ball for the national tournament. Which is awesome. We will catch up with them some more tonight! 

President Balli told me last night that we can move Annettes progress along pretty fast here now! So we are really excited for her! She will probably have a baptismal date this week if not then next week for sure! 

The Lord has really blessed us and protected us this week! My comp had a pretty scary fall while mucking around in basketball. But he's all good now, just really sore haha. But all is well!

The area is doing good still and we are still having fun and loving the mission! I hope you all have a good week! And stay warm since it's coming in to winter!

Love you all! 

The Perfect Week

Hello family and friends again!! Well it was a beautiful week. Can you believe that one year ago from Friday I left for the Provo MTC?? Time is crazy fast but I love it. The mission is so great. So this week couldn't of been better. We had heaps of lessons and great progression with lots of people. But on Friday it was my year mark. I got a "hiding" for it. And all that means is I got hit in the back of the leg by a middle broom stick from two other elders haha. They missed my butt and got my leg, now I have a massive bruise. I won't send that picture cause it's kinda gross. But if you wanna see it let me know haha. Burnt a shirt on Friday night, It went up in flames really really fast haha. A lot easier than my tie.

Saturday was even better. For starts, we had our investigators and ward members come play basketball with us in the morning. It was also my comps Year Mark! But to top it all off. WE HAD A BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sister Lydia got baptized on Saturday and confirmed yesterday :) It was such a special day for everyone! 

And yesterday we had a missionary fireside. But it was combined with the Blockhouse Bay ward! I got to see my first ward from my mission one year later haha. It was so cool! We had around 40 less-actives/Non-members there last night so it was really successful! 

This week couldn't of been better. And this year has been the greatest year of my life. Time is counting down slowly, but it's all gonna be worth it! I'm super grateful for all the blessing that the Lord has given me. So many things have happened in this year, and I can't wait to see what this next year brings. I love you all!!!

Elder Maughan

We can see the Top

Well this week was a good one for sure! Even tho I couldn't speak since I lost my voice with a sickness, but still good. But we were able to do good stuff! We are excited for this coming week!

We met some good people this week, some crazy people, and some people that could care less to hear from us haha. Average week as a missionary. All of our Baptisms are still on track thankful. This week is our first one! Lydia is her name and she is super prepared! She has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith already! The only struggle now is making sure we get all our visits in on time haha. But she will be all good to go this coming Saturday. Perfect cherry on top for this weekend aye??;) We had stake conference yesterday. Our bishop is now in the Stake Presidency, so we were bummed about that, but still will push on!

Well my companion and I have almost reached the hump. That's why we can see the top and we are almost there. I hit my year mark or Friday and he hits his on Saturday. This past year has been a great blessing for me in so many ways I couldn't even think of where I'd be without the mission and this last year. Hard, oh yes, worth it, without a doubt. I'm super grateful for the Lord and all that he has done for me.

One last thing. Yesterday was Father's Day in New Zealand! SO HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO THE GREATEST DAD EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wouldn't be the person I am without him! He is the greatest hero and example in my life and I love him so much! Thank you dad for all the blessing and strength you've given me! (couldn't get the picture in time) :(

Well next week should have heaps of pictures.

Love you all!!!

Elder Maughan

Lincoln is getting More Blessings

Well this week was mean as! Can't believe it's September this week!! 

The week was up and down. Pretty average though to be honest. 

Transfers happened on Wednesday. Sad to see some people go. But glad to say my companion Elder Ponce and I both got to stay!!:) Which we were both really happy about because we have 5 people set for baptism this transfer so we both wanted to stay here to see the miracles happen till the end :)

We were suppose to have a baptism on Saturday but our guy pulled back on Wednesday. Very discouraging. The Devil was present working very hard on him. My comp and I were both so drained after the lesson and both broke down. But we moved forward with it. 

We had lessons with Lydia, a Korean woman set for the 10th. She has a good understanding and knows the Bible. But she said she believes in the Joseph Smith story and the Book of Mormon. She's awesome!! 

On Sunday we had a lesson with the Pinono family. My comp and I love this family!!! They are all crack ups!! They came to church and were all involved with all the classes. They are all keen as and have been so prepared!

Right after our lesson with them, the Lord provided another miracle for us. One guy we've been working with for ages named Clinton. Something touched his heart and he has moved forward! He is now set for the 1st of October! The Lord has done so many amazing things for us and we are very very grateful!

I gotta shoot off!

Love you all! Have a good one!!

Miracles in Henderson.

Hello all once again! 

Life is good down here in the bottom of the world. We had heaps of fun this week too. Lots of adventures and a lot of good teaching appointments.

Last week I talked about Blessings, this week I wanna share a few miracles... We have an investigator named Annette. She has been meeting with the missionaries for over 2 years now. The ward calls her a "dry mormon" cause she's more active than some of our members haha. But she's awesome. She was able to take some even more big steps this last week! We are really excitied for her! Other great things are coming!! A lot of people have started to take interest in our messages and everything we have to offer them! A lot of good things should be coming this week!!

Other than that, the Lord is continuing to work in many different ways here in Lincoln Ward. And In the Henderson Stake! 

I hope you all have a good week. Love you all!!

Love you all!!

Lincoln has Blessings!!

Hello once again from the Pacific!

I can't believe August has come! Time is moving so much faster and it's crazy. Things are really good down here though! My comp and I say basically every day that Lincoln has heaps of blessings in so many ways! We are loving this area and doing the best we can to help the ward. Our ward is very eager to do missionary work and they are always telling us they are willing to help anyway they can! There is some true blessing coming our way. We have the pool, an EPIC ward mission plan, and good things to come.

Teaching wise things are picking up, still working on that but we are trying our best to go through all our old records and find more people to talk to and teach. There's people out there! Just need to go and get them!

An adventure from this week, my comp and I got a new couch from the side of the road!!:) It reminded me of when me and the boys back home got our own couch haha. But this one was just sitting on the side of the road, we knocked the door and they said they weren't interested, but we just asked if we could have the couch haha, they told us to just take it for free! It was an adventure and challenge getting it in the trailer and into the house but we did and it looks shux!!

Other than that I'm loving it down here!:) Hope you all have a good week!!

Love you all!!

Elder Maughan

 

 

Welcome to August

Hello everyone again!!

Life is going great down here in Aotearoa! I'm having so much fun and getting into the work!! My comp and I are getting along really well and we are having lots of fun.Our zone and district are both really united and the ward is awesome. And it's cool cause heaps of people here know people from my first area. Some are even related! But the ward is great and we are doing all good :)

On Tuesday we had the great chance to get a training from President Haleck. Q of the 70 and new Pacific Area President. We spent most of the day with him and had some really good insights. After the training one of the AP's came up to me and said President Haleck wants to meet with me. Of course my heart dropped. So I waited around till he had me in. He just said he always picks a few random missionaries to talk to and get to know haha. So it was a really good interview. Just gave me some personal counsel and encouragement and then he gave me a blessing!!:) It was a very cool experience to get a blessing from a General Authority :)

The rest of the week just kept moving forward. We were able to teach a few people. Slowing picking that up. Our Ward Mission Leader got back from his trip so we got to meet him and now we are gonna get going like crazy!

On Saturday I had the great oppurtunity to baptize a child for a less active family :) It was a little rough tho haha. He didn't want to get in the water. Then he kicked his foot up so we had to do it again and he was very against that haha. But we calmed him down and he came back in and he yelled "YAAAY I DID IT!!!" So it was a true blessing to be a part of that :)

The Blessing in the Lincoln Ward keep flowing and it's a great place to be :) My comp and I are very excited to be here and to be working hard!!

Hope you all are staying cool over there!! Love and miss you all!!

Elder Maughan

I need more creative subjects....

Hello everyone!!

This week was good! Our first full week in the area and we are just getting started with our work! There's some good things to come this transfer. The ward is more than anxious to do missionary work. Our ward is awesome too haha. Everyone is willing to help and do anything they can to help us. 

Yesterday in Church we had a couple missionary come home from their mission in Hawaii. The reason they came home was because he got a new calling. The new New Zealand Temple President!! So we got to hear from him and his wife, that was really special :) 

We met an investigator this week finally named Wiremu. From the states but moved here and is learning Maori. He's pretty cool. Very hungry for the truth and just needs to recognize his answers! But he's way cool. We did a lot of tracting this week. Which neither of us are good at since we've been up north for so long with no tracting haha. But we had some fun with it and found a few potentials. The sisters before us have been us to everyone mostly but we are still doing good!

My comp is the man. He's really random and funny haha. We are still working on our teaching skills together since we haven't had heaps of lessons yet but we will and we will have a blast! 

We are having heaps of fun down here too. Our zone and district our awesome. I'm excited to be here and to keep this work moving!

I already know this is going to be a great week so I'm really excited!:) Hope you all have a good week and a good Pioneer Day!!

Love you guys!!:)
Elder Maughan

Area #4 Lincoln Ward, Henderson Stake

Talofa!! (Hello in Samoan haha)

Well I'm back down in Auckland!!! We had transfers this last Wednesday. Very sad to move from Wellsford and Bream Bay. The Northland was super fun but it's fun being back down in Auckland! 

I'm now on the west side of my mission in the Henderson Stake. Back in a ward too with a chapel. It was really weird. I miss my chapels up in the North, but we have a really nice ward. 

We had a massive ward feed for a missionary who got home on Saturday. So It was a really good welcoming to him and us haha ;) 

The sisters left us some good notes and a few people to work with. Not a massive teaching pool but it's more than 0 so it's all good!!! 

My companion is Elder Ponce from the Philippines. We are from the same in take so we have a good connection there. Still need to work on working together and everything but it's only week one! It's his first time in Auckland too so he's going a little crazy haha.

Sorry this email was kinda lame, not too much to share from a whitewash haha. 

I hope you all had a good week and will have a wonderful this one!!

Love you all!!

Elder Maughan

Weeks Keep Flying

Hello all of you beautiful people out there. I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July and none of you got blown up from a firework :)

This week has been awesome! We had a lot of good things come about and lots of good lessons! Things are picking up!

I also talked with Miracle. A young girl we are teaching. She was showing me how she plays the piano and asked me when she's gonna get baptized haha. I told her as soon as she's not so busy we will come over and get things sorted out :)

Then last night we had a good chat with one of our members who hasn't been to church in a while. She said she realizes things need to change and she is planning on coming to church next week!

And then to finish up the week we had a talk with Anne-Marie and she is doing good. She made my comp put on a mask so he wouldn't spread germs haha. But we had a good talk with her and a good prayer. Hopefully she'll be able to listen to the Spirit and open her heart now!!

Transfers again this week. Hoping for a miracle to stay here a little bit longer! If not, who knows where I'll be emailing from next week! But until then!

Love you all!!

HAPPY 4TH!!!!

Well since I'm in New Zealand I don't get to celebrate the 4th, but I hope you all have a wonder day tomorrow and have lots of fun for me!!!!

Theres my Fireworks for the year :) 

Anyway!! This was a good week!! 4 people came to church! Cassandra and Kor were both there and they are doing great! We are very excited for them and their family :)

Anne-Marie is doing good also. She is set for the 23 of August! That's her birthday she said so she said that would be perfect! New Year of life, new life in general! We are happy to work with her! And her dog is really fun to mess with. Even tho he leaves his hair like every where haha.

Lots of good things came out of no where this week. My companion and I are both trying harder and harder for the work to come forth. And we can see the Lords hand in our work as we have turned to Him more and more. We still have heaps to work on, but we are on the right track and its a great feeling!!

Well that's all for this week! I hope you all have a great 4th tomorrow!!:)

Love and miss you all!!:)

Elder Maughan