"Warm" Wishes

Yes I am out of the MTC. The MTC was great experience, and I learned a lot. One of the blesings that I have received is the ability to sit through Church, or any meeting with out a single thought of how long and boring it is. In the MTC we probably had about 9 hours of class time a day. They gave us Christmas day and Eve off so we did miss out on some good learning opportunities. I was the only American Elder in the MTC, there where 3 Sisters from America. other than that there where Tongans, Samoans, Tahitians, all a jolly bunch of saints. At times they where a bit rowdy, but that is part of their culture. They will eat food right off your plate if your not watching!

Anyways I am now in the field in an area called Onehunga. The church is strong here, and the non-members are kind torwards us. I am with Elder De Kock (Hes form South Africa, and is white). He has been out weeks, so he is still pretty darn fresh to. A complete training time is 12 weeks! so he kind of got the short end of the stick. He loves rudby so he is a pretty well built guy. I have been doing my best to help him out so I am not as much of a burden on him. We bike everywhere we go, and Elder De Kock is quite amazing with sharing the gospel with people. I have tried a few times, but it's a bit difficult, as expected, I often don't know what to say or know how to get them talking. Any ways it has only been 5 days, so I think that is expected. I have helped teach few lessons to investigators, however most of the time when we setup appointments, we knock on the door to find that no one is home. So its a lot of riding around, which I do enjoy. The sun is intense here, 

I am glad that you got to go back to the states and attend Grandmas funeral. It sounds like it was a good experience. Tell Grandpa I love him and that I wish I could spend more time with him playing checkers and learning from the best! It sounds like the kids had a good time building an igloo, except for maybe Eric.... He needs some better snow gear so he can be happy in the snow! But he will grow quick though. Oh there is so much to tell but so little time. I am just a "little" jealous about the fireworks.

That's to bad about your phone! hopefully it can be fixed and be as good as new! Surprisingly I haven't missed the phone to much, I have just been really focused on the mission and trying to do my best. Ok well I have to go, I look forwards to telling you more next week and hearing about what is going on! Hopefully I will have a few miracles to tell you guys about also.

Lots of Love,

Elder Ward