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!!!

NZAM, MT ROSKILL, BHB

Hello again from the hot, sunny land of Auckland. and when I say that I mean it, it's usually like 80 degrees here with the humidity. It's crazy hot!! But it's beautiful!!

So this week has been solid and rough all at the same time!! Not too much action during the week but the weekend we had some big things happen. 

We were driving to our chapel on Saturday and one investigator named Jeffery called and asked to meet up later that night. So we set up a time and sat down with him. He told us about a lot of struggles at home. He told us he was ready to change his life and start fresh. He wants to join the church and be clean he said. So we set up some times to meet with him and started to go! He is super keen and has been prepared!! 

Then yesterday I was sitting at the sacrament table looking out on the ward, and I noticed some one staring through the door. Then as I was blessing the bread the phone went off. Luckily I turned it on silence probably 3 minutes before it happened ;) It was this lady named Maria! She had brought her whole family to church who aren't members!! But they were 20 minutes late and she said they were too embarrassed to walk in... but she wants us to come by this week and start teaching!! The work is moving in the wonder BHB ward!! Hopefully my companion and I can be humble enough and in tune with the Spirit to help these people out and come close to the Lord.

As I was finishing this email, Elder Nakamura just bit my shoulder... Why, I have no idea. 

Hopefully you all have a good week!! Send some snow my way please!!! Love you all!!

Mid Jan Already

Hello once again from the great NZAM!! Crazy to think transfers are next week already. Time is starting to pick up speed and it's flipping crazy!

This week was good. We have an investigator name Donald, he is very old and stubborn haha. My comp and I spent a lot of time with him yesterday trying to help him understand the priesthood and the gift of the Holy Ghost and how it was all passed down to our prophet today. He's a good guy and really pushes me to learn and do more so it's good!! He's helping with my teaching skills and my patience cause he's rough haha. My comp gets very annoyed with him so it's good haha!

We had a pretty cool experience yesterday tho. We met this guy named Mark a couple weeks back. Haven't done much teaching with him yet. He is super chill. Likes fishing, motorbikes, being outdoors, really humble and strict man! He told us that he was being taught like 13 years ago and was wanting to get baptized but something went wrong and he just turned away and hasn't been in contacted with anyone from our church since. So my comp and I are slowing working with him, just keep going to visit him. He said he'd try to come by to church but he ended up not coming cause the weather was too nice not to ride his bike. BUT he came by after church to say hello and sorry for not coming. AND he asked us for a new Book of Mormon so he could do some studying again and talk to us more! He is ready!! It just helped me realize that once someone plants the seed in someone heart, it'll never go away. We as members now need to continue to plant and water the seed of non-members. Every member is a missionary. 

Love you all and hope you have a safe week!!