Letters are great!

Well I am glad that you guys got the letter so soon! I will be sending them more often as they do have a bit more meaning to them. I think that I expressed that idea in the very letter that I sent to you guys! 

Thanks for e-mailing! I enjoy them a lot. Even the smallest things are great to hear about. That's part of the reason why I never got that story in the e-mails home because it was just to much to type up in one sit down with everything else that happened in the week. I do always try to write in my journal everyday. That is the best way that I have found to preserve memories.

For this week Semati and Jodie are still doing great. Jodie didn't make it to church again but that was because of a funeral event going on in the family. It was great though because we had just taught her the Plan of Salvation that week. I felt impressed to ask her if she was thinking about it as she attended the funeral. She said yes she was thinking about it as she was there. She found great comfort in understanding that there is more to God's plan than just simply this life. Really great teaching opportunity. It is also great when you are able to apply things that you have taught to the investigators real experiences. You are able to make that mental bridge form just a teaching to really applying it. Personally experiences are great and wonder teaching tools, whether they be your own, or you identify it from their own personal challenges and experience. 

Fernancis is doing well also. We got a small moment this week to teach her and Semati together about the law of Tithing. That was it for the week because things where busy for everyone this week. We had Brother Criton there with us for the lesson. The 2nd counselor of the Bishop Bishopric. He was able to bear testimony of it which is great when it comes form a member. We invited Brother Semati to pay his tithing after he is baptized and he said yes right off the bat. He is so prepared! We could baptize him this week really if they would just get married as soon as possible. That is still getting run through the machine. The baptismal date for him and the 19th of December, as well as Jodie. We are hoping that Fernancis will be prepared by then to be baptized. It will really be a great day for the family and as well as the Waipuna Ward. I guess you could say it is going to be a great Christmas! Speaking of Christmas, phone calls are coming up...

Dallas, if I remember correctly I told you guys about him. Unfortunately he was unable to make it to church. Nor where we able to sit down with him and teach him because he was so busy. But he still has great potential!

Elder Fougerouse and I have been walking in our area for the past 2 weeks, because my bike broke due to the hangar for the gear shifter in the rear being abused for it falling over so much. finally got the parts to day. It was the first time that I have had technical difficulties with a bike have had to admit defeat with trying to fix it so we can continue riding for the day. Walking has been all right though because our area is quite small. We cover half of the Waipuna Ward (why-puna) Sisters cover the other half. but still having the bikes makes it so much easier to see more people and be on time for appointments.

Guess what I ate this week on Sunday at a members house??? Hosi! Or horse in English. Hosi is Tongan. It was pretty good. It tasted a bit like pork. Everyone says that it is amazingly good, but I was slightly disappointed thinking it was going to be better. It was in a curry which was nice but not preferable in my opinion. I was expecting a bit more of like a steak type meal but it was still pretty good. Brother Naeata (Nie- ahtah) our Ward Mission Leader, as well as his son Hafen where expecting me to hesitate at eating or scare at it. I put it straight in my mouth and had 2 bowls. Tasty.

So for the pictures you have our district again. It was Elder Ziegner's last district meeting. We have special trainings for the rest of the transfer. He will be going home on Tuesday of Next week, all the way back to Germany. It's so sad really :( He is a great Elder.

And then you have got a picture of the horse. That was pretty good, of course and then you have got Hafen showing off his Tonga shirt. He does speak English and Tongan. Here in New Zealand just about every one knows English except those that have grown up in the Islands and have not bothered or haven't had a chance to learn English well. Sometimes Islanders only speak English because there parents didn't teach them growing up here in NZ.

That is a bit about the week. Had a lot to write about and got some good stuff in this letter I think! I will be sending other pictures as well! 

Love you all glad that you are doing well!

Love,
Elder Ward

Elder  Fougerous and I had a chance to sit down and have dinner at a inlet where they practice rowing. We where eating subway. The members could not feed us at their home because they where busy and they said that they would buy us some food. They asked us to pick and I said "Subway!" Because we have had to much McDonalds and Wendy's Lately. They dropped it off where we we're at again and we sat and enjoyed all the rowing. Many different kinds! I got some cool video to, but that is to big to send. I really enjoyed it and it was very relaxing. Elder Fougerous did rowing back in Tahiti so he was loving it as well.

Beautiful Flowers

I will certainly be missing the Fomby's. I probably mentioned it several times, that I really liked listening to Pres Fomby give talks. I learned a lot form him. I was looking forwards to returning home and saying hello again.

Something that I have noticed is that in the past my testimony has often leaned slightly on others. I have noticed or recognized that on my mission. Sometimes we lean on others to get the motivation that we need to "keep our faith up I guess".  Something that I am taking away from my mission is having my own testimony that I can hold up on my own. It is be great to have bright testimonies shared by others, but ultimately I need to have confidence and faith in my own testimony. I don't bring this subject up as a concern, but more as something that I have come to know and learn. I have learned so much on mission it truly has been a blessing!

Well for this week Elder Fougerouse and I where very busy. And I loved it! We have some really wonderful investigators. Semati came to church. He is planning on being baptized on the 19th of Dec along with there Daughter in Law Jodie is also a wonderful investigator. They could be baptized now..... But there are a few things to work out such as Marriage, and also they are going on a trip to Samoa, or at least part of the family will be. you can't baptize them with out the family being there! We have been teaching the quite consistently now. Our evenings are often very busy. Also Fernancis has been doing well. Another soon to be Daughter in Law as well. She has been very interested, but she is very shy in the lessons. We ask to see if she has any questions after the lesson, and she says that she has none. But her her partner says (who is a member) that right when we leave she asks all the questions in the world! 

We also are planning to Baptize a 16 year old Boy named Dallas. He wants to join a Church and has been looking for the true church as well. His friend "Hafen" is a member and invited him to take the lessons. He is very teachable and wants to learn, so we are excited to see him progress. We are hoping that he can be baptized on the 29 Nov, it will be amazing! He is very interested in the BoM after we taught him the Restoration. We brought him to a fireside yesterday called a "Come and See" Fireside. He really enjoyed it. It is one of those rare occasions, where missionaries from other zones get a chance to see each other. So it is always a priority to get to it... with and investigator of course. It has been the first time that I have been able to go to one in more than 6 months. In Mount albert Elder Rogers and I never where able to get investigators there so we could never make it. But this time I got to go and I saw some great old friends. Including Bishop Lavelua form my first are in Onehunga, they where happy to see me, which made me feel happy because they actually remembered and missed me me! It was great! I wrote a letter that morning to Rob, One of the first investigators that I helped teach and get baptized on my mission. I felt a strong desire to figure out his address and write him a letter, and I did that morning before church and the fireside. Because Bishop Lavaula was there I was able to ask about Rob, and he is still going to church! I was going to have to research his address but I was able to give them the letter right there. It worked out perfectly. Certainly a prompting from the spirit.

So many good things are happening. Truly, when the members just simply invite people to learn more about the restored gospel, the spirit is able to then be present and touch hearts. So many times as a missionary I wish I could get dressed as a normal person and go talk with people and then lead them into a gospel discussion. Many times us being all dressed up with a name tag immediately puts them off because they have seen or talked with missionaries before, and think that we are there to just simply preach preach preach. It then makes it difficult to get anything done or even just ask them how there day has been. Just remember to invite!

Elder Fougerouse and i have gettting along well. He speaks Tahitian(which is similar to Moari, and Cook Island) and as well as French. I often ask him how to say things on French but often they are not to different or they are the same! He says that back in Taihiti fishing is a big thing. They often eat raw fish and go spear fishing even. (I was ridiculously jealous when he told me that). funny thing is that he asks me about American Highschool and if it is like the movies. It's not just him, every loves to ask about that. It's interesting how the Grass is always greener on the other side of the hill.

Things are great I have sent a picture of Elder Fougerous and I as well as the place where we played a bit of touch rugbie for our First Zone P-day ever! They got special permission form President, and now we might be able to have one every so often now. We played a bit of American Football, but I will have to admit myself it was a bit boring compared to touch. The Islander Elders thought it was pretty boring to. Mainly because there was a lot of people playing. Touch is still way better in a big group.

Hope you guys enjoy the e-mail I am short on time. Got to go!

Love,
Elder Ward

I wish that I had time to take pictures of all the dutiful flowers here in NZ. This reminded me of the purple snow back in Cali. I also thought that it was cool how you have to different kinds as well.

A Handwritten Letter from Elder Ward

1 Sept 2014

Dear Family,

So today is P-day.  Unfortunately it is pouring buckets of rain outside so we aren't really able to do anything other than stay in the flat.  It's not a bid thing but I do like to get out and run around!  P-days are too short.  Generally, we get to the e-mail shop around 10:30 am or so.  We then e-mail for about 2 hours.  We always try to go less because that gives us a bit more flexibility later in the day.  So with 2 hours we get out of there about 12:30 pm or so.  Usually 1:00 pm though if all goes well with writing the letters swiftly and with focus.  It is easy to get distracted and start looking things up on the church website or watching "I'm a Mormon" vids.  They are always uplifting especially after a hard week.  So within the letters that I send home I try to tell you guys about the miracles that happen,and what it is like to be a full time missionary here in New Zealand.  It isn't easy but I hope that I do at least a half way decent job.  All right so we get out of the internet shop (usually other Elders and Sisters are there as well and it is always great to see them and say hello) then ride our bikes up to the Pak n Save.  I have a big box strapped to a bike rack that I got for $25.  Elder Rogers and I usually have a list made out so we can get in and out with little to no time wasted.  Probably about 45 min.  We ride back to our flat which isn't to far really.  It's fun having about 30 lbs strapped to the back of your bike.  It can really send you flying down the hills!  We then unload everything into the flat and then get ready for sport.  We may do a bit of cleaning if necessary.  Sometimes it is, but we usually try to take care of most of it by maintaining it wee throughout the week.  Usually what then happens is we will go play some sport with our District.  Within our district there are 3 Elder companionships and one Sister companionship.  Within the Zone there are 3 districts which may have more or less Elders/Sisters depending on what's needed within the individual Wards and Stake.  So we play sport with each other.  We've played Basketball (The American Elders are always pretty decent, the Aussies/Kiwis, not so much...lol), maybe Touch (or Rugby just no tackle.  Like you have got tackle football and then just touch football), or soccer,  we have only played that once.  Elder Rogers is a soccer player, so he loves it.  At about or just before 5:00 pm we all break and head back to the flats get showered/dressed, eat a quick dinner, then it is out to the area to go see people and meet new people.

So that right there is a pretty average P-day.  Today is a bit different because of the rain.  Transportation is a bit difficult because Elder Rogers and I no longer have a car now.  That mad P-days really easy, especially with groceries.  Instead of sport I have used some time to get a bit more organized and write a letter as well.  I am going to write weekly now I think that will make it very enjoyable for all of us !   I usually try to tell all you guys about what happens in my e-,ails home but somethings don't quite make it in or I just don't have enough time to tell how i feel about everything.

2 Sept 2014

Dear Family,

I don't think I told you guys about one of our investigators name Bhenhilda.  I am certain that I may have mentioned her name and told you guys about her.  Bhenhilda (Ben-hilda, kinda weird) is from Africa.  Lots of people from Africa immigrate here to New Zealand.  They are usually of the Christian Orthodox faith. She herself is a Christian, I don't think she was of the Christian Orthodox.  Elder Rogers and Elder Lloyd (our District leader a the time) bumped into her while on the streets.  (She would often carry her smallest child on her back by wrapping a towel around her and the child.  I looked like it worked really good).  We visited Bhenhilda and taught her on the door step many times.  She would often times have trouble understanding us because English is a second language.  We had been working with Bhenhilda for a while now.  We really wanted her to come to church and that had been a goal of ours for quite awhile.  She was in the backyard hanging up the laundry.  We visited with her for a bit and chatted with her a her children played in the backyard.  Our backs were facing the house when she pointed to a window with a gasp.  We turned around and saw smoke coming from the open windows.  My first thought was that something on the stove was burning.  Bhenhilda ran into the home and I went in to make sure that everything was okay.  First thing that I saw was flaming blender of doom!  The chord was on fire and its was burning like crazy.  I was tempted to try ad fight the fire, but no hose was available or bucket of water.  The fires seemed a bit out of hand as well since the room was really starting to fill up with smoke.  I called out to Bhenhilda that she would need to come out it is much too dangerous.  She came out panicking.  I asked her if there were any children in the home or if anyone was in there.  She said no.  I was call "111" (that's what it is here in New Zealand)  I gave the address explained the situation over the phone, while Bhenhilda remembered that the passports were in the home..  She ran inside to a different area of the home and dragged out a big white dresser.  Elder Rogers helped her get it out at the door while I continues to give out details.  Just after she got out, the house really started to fill up with black smoke.  I was glad I called and everyone was out.  With about 5 min the firemen arrived (or the "fire brigade" as they call it here in NZ).  The fire had not really spread to much, it didn't seem to be getting to much bigger either.  The firemen didn't seem to be to rushed to put it out, but they got everything set up and went in.  Within just a few minutes the fire was out.  Elder Rogers and I stayed around in case they need to talk to us about happened, which they didn't for some reason, I thought they would have approached us about what happened especially me, as I was the one who called!  Bhenhilda did not call because she was panicking so much,  even after I had called the fire department, and we where standing outside waiting she asked me to call her mother as she could not dial the number herself,

12 Oct 2014

because she was so shaken by what was happening.

Bhenhilda's mother came of course to comfort her thankfully they were actually going to be moving in just a few days, so it was all good.  That the house was smoke damaged and several appliances were destroyed in the kitchen.  I was thinking that it was mine and Elder Rogers fault because we distracted her from what was cooking on the stove as she hung the laundry to dry in the backyard.  He was determined that a curtain near the stove had blown into an electric burner. Catching fire and then blowing over various areas (including the blender) and starting the fire.  This was a bit of a relief to me as I came to to know that it was a sincerer accident.

After learning about that I remembered how Bhenhilda was unable to dial the number and ran in the house as the smoke grew thick.  I remembered how I was able to call"111" and Elder Rogers and I were able to help keep her and her family safe.  Bhenhilda and her mother called us "angels" sent from God.  I was like sure and I thought to myself about how we were there just at the right time and was able to assist in a potential dangerous or even life threatening accident.

Our Heavenly Father does look out for us.  He looks out for us and gives us opportunities to serve others whether they be small or big.  We simply must be prepared to do, and to act!  It was a blessing to be able to assist in helping with Heavenly Father's plans, and children.  This was certainly a pretty significant experience and event on my mission.  I have never e-mailed because it was such a huge thing!  I have got on paper now so I hope that it is a great story to read.

As you guys may notice by the dates, this has taken me a very long time to write out.  I haven't been super diligent with try into get it in the mail.  For me mail seems to be a lot more meaningful and I hope that you guys will enjoy the letter.

Today's date is 19 Oct 2014 (Sunday) and I will be getting in the mail tomorrow.  I just want to let you guys know how much I love you.  I certainly do miss being around he family.  Eric and Madelyn are going to be so much bigger when I get back and Stuart will likely go on his mission before I am able to come back.  That's OK though.  I have learnt a lot on my mission.  My testimony has grown vastly and is improving everyday.  A mission has not been easy for me, but I know that these challenges will help face even bigger ones in the future with confidence and a strong determination to conquer them.

Well, I hope that the family is doing well.  I will be e-mailing you guys tomorrow so that is always exciting.  I love hearing about the adventures you guys have.  Last week I was able to tell my companion about how "my family got into a train that was monkey proofed, and then drove out to be swarmed by them...in Italy."  That was a pretty interesting story and always amaze them when they hear about what is happening.  It's not the usual with most families back home!  Also I hope that dating machine is still around...(the tandem bicycle).  I think I will be inquiring of it tomorrow in my e-mails.  I guess this letter will be a bit of a reminder.

I don't have much else to say.  I am pretty sure I will get better at writing letters as I do it more consistently.  E-mails home does kind of take the buzz out of writing letters home.  But for good stories that don't get e-,ailed, I will write about them and tell you guys all about it. 

Take car I love you all!

Love, 

Elder Ward

Also just now in personal studies I read a General Conference address given in April 2012, by Elder David F. Evans.  He said in one paragraph of his talk "We can write of Christ by writing letters to those who are away.  Missionaries serving, sons or daughters in the military, and those we love are blessed by the letters we write.  Letters from are not just quick e-mails.  Real letters provide something tangible that can be held, thought about, and cherished."  I very much agree with his statement.  So I think I will send a letter home as often as I can.  The rest of his talk is very good and it talks a lot about how we can do missionary work as missionaries.

Just wanted to add that in the letter.  Hope you guys enjoy it and take care!

Love, 

Elder Ward

Blessed...

Well all right it feels like yesterday that I was e-mailing you guys1 the mission is really going by way to fast! 

So we had some great things happen this week! I think that I will have to start off with the Set that Elder Fougerouse and I have now. Her name is Jodie, and she is so awesome! She wants to be baptized, it really is a privilege to teach her. I think that I mentioned in the last e-mail that I sent to you guys. We finally had an appointment set up with her and everything, so we could teach the message of the Restoration. Probably one of the most important lessons that helps the investigator understand why the church even exists. We went through all the points. "God is our Loving Heavenly Father", "The Gospel Blesses Families", "God Reveals his Gospel in Every Dispensation", "The Saviors' Earthly Ministry","The Great Apostasy", and of course the "The Restoration". As missionaries we don't memorize or teach a wrote lesson. Our goal is to almost have a conversation about what we are teaching. We always encourage investigators to ask questions, because that really helps understand what need to teach and what they need to know to progress in their understanding of the gospel. Needless to say Jodie loved the lesson and understood what we taught well. Lorenzo her LA partner was having flash backs of attending church when he was younger as well. He seems to be excited to come back as weel. At the end of the lesson we invited Jodie to be Baptized on the 29 Nov and she accepted. She felt a bit uneasy about it, but we explained to her that it would be a goal for her to work towards, and that it would help her progress quicker. We also talked about the need to get married. They where suppose to talk to Bishop Tui'Polotu about it however for some reason they left church just after sacrament. Not to sure why but something must have come up. We are excited and we are going to be having another appointment with her this Wednesday.

Semati, is doing well also, he has been coming to church and he has been excited to learn more. He will be baptized, there are just a few things such as marriage that need to be straightened out. I think I mentioned him a bit in the last letter as well.

So for morning exercise I has to show Elder Fougerouse something cool. Ice blocking... I had found a large tupper ware container in my last flat and had actually froze some blocks in my last area hoping that we may be able to do it for a P-day activity. That didn't work out though because we where very busy with other things. Conveniently there is a huge playing field in front of our flat with steep grassy hills. I could not resist. I told Elder Fougerouse that we are going to be ice blocking for morning exercise, and I froze a huge block. I am pretty sure that he thought that I was half crazy. Sliding down a grassy hill on a block of ice. We walked out there I sat down and flew down the hill, Elder Fougerouse immediately wanted a turn... Needless to say it was a blast! Running up the hill was good exercise as well! Elder Fougerouse figured out a style he liked. Similar to surfing.. what he did back in Tahiti a lot! I got some good pictures. Even videoed myself going down the hill but it's to big to send though... Maybe in the mail.

So ya it was a great week. I love the ward and they want to feed us all the time! 

The Weather here is ridiculous, some days the sun is out and is hot as! Other days it is cloudy and cold. And sometimes it just can't make up it's mind! 

Great to hear about the tandem bike! 

Love you all and take care,
Elder Ward

This a picture of our District. Our district Leader is Elder Ziegner laying of the ground. he is from Germany. Elder Rogers my last companion is in our district! We where so happy to see each other when I arrived in the district. We had a great time talking about the things that happened in our last area. 

Good Investigators

Because of the baptism that happened last week we had some awesome things happen. As missionaries we are encouraged to encourage the family to invite all there non-member families to the Baptism. At the baptism son (Lorenzo) of Mother who had her children baptized, who is less-active, came with his partner (Jodene, still not sure how to spell her name). Turns out that she is interested in learning about the Restored Gospel! We had a lesson this week with her, and got to know her and her partner. We had Brother from the ward with us as well. We wanted to talk a bit about the BoM, however  our member got us on the subject of the temples.. Not really where we where planning on going but, it was still good.Much was learned and questions where answered. We invited Jodene to be baptized if she came to know that the Book of Mormon is true... and she said yes! So now we have a lot to teach, has come 2 church twice all ready, and we are hoping and praying that she will embrace the Book of Mormon with open arms and let it build her testimony of Christ.

Semati, Sister Guay's (Pronounced "nauway" But the end sound is in the back of the throat"  Tongan for ya) partner, is also investigating, he has been to church as well 3 times now. He is a bit quiet so it can be difficult to teach when they don't give you a whole lot of feed back about what is being taught! But still though, we know that he is sincere because he explained to us that he was going to inform his parents, who are devout Catholics that he would like to be baptized as well. It is out of respect for them. We still have a lot to go over with them though as he hasn't been taught directly though yet. He sat in on many of the lessons that Jared and Mia had together apparently, so he has had a chance to become at least been introduced. 

Both of these families need to be married however... but that is easy to take care of though because our Bishop is really onto that stuff. Elder Fougerous and I have been getting along great! We have had some great things happen as well. There are a few other people that we are currently teaching as well, or seeking to teach as they are interested, or have children who have not been baptized yet. It can be difficult as people are very busy! I guess you can say it's a work in progress but they will be on board one day in the near future

My area is actually quite small.My last area was quite large we did a lot of biking and big hills to climb! This area is smaller and  flat. It is actually quite close to the shore line.As we bike we can see the jetties or bays, I guess to can call them behind homes. It's not clean water, just muddy wetlands, I will have to get a few pictures. 

Lot's of Less-Active members. Often times, we meet people who where baptized as children, however grew up and went their own way and joined other churches. Most of the time they are not interested, but sometimes of course they want to come back and have unbaptized children like in the case Sister Guay.

Let me know if you guys still got questions. I don't think I really understand what it's like to be getting my e-mails and to try and learn what is happening in my life. Let me know if there is something I could talk about more often and clearly. 

Also, do you guys still have the tandem bike?

Look's like Halloween was fun, Eric with the Charmander costume was great. Oh a classic indeed. They must be growing so much! The potato head costume must have been great! That is probably the best costume ever. Nice and warm inside.. Halloween isn't to big hear in NZ. It is just starting up actually. No one, and I mean no one had decorations up for it. But there where kids out trick or treating. There weren't and flash costumes or anything like that, some face paint and maybe a mask with a weapon. They didn't get nearly as much candy as we do in the states!

So the pictures are of a feed we had at Tongan Families home. That is a fried green banana with coconut cream on it. There is also a dish called "Raw Fish" on the plate. I love it. and it actually has chucks of raw fish in it. Pretty chewy! And Chop Sui, noodles and rice with soy sauce. And of course the green is meat wrapped up in a Taro Leaf. It is wrapped in tin foil and then baked. It is very good! If it isn't cooked right the leaf will actually irritate your tongue. They call it an "itchy tongue". I had it once at a members home, it was pretty interesting. It wasn't terribly painful but certainly uncomfortable. Had to just smile and eat more. :D

And then also our members love us.... they knocked on our door one evening while we where in the flat planning and they gave us 8 of these cones! I was happy.


I love you all so much!

Take Care,
Love Elder Ward

The New Area

SOO much has happened in the past week. Leaving the area was not easy, not only that it was difficult to say good bye to some of the amazing members of the Ward. IN particular it was tough having to say good by to The Tua'aho Family, the family that fellow shipped Faa. They where so sad to hear that I was leaving the area. We got their e-mails and we are going to be keeping in touch for sure. I didn't get to say good by to Faa, he has been so busy with work. But he is doing well. He is reading the scriptures and really doing well though according to his Girl Friend Si-i. Said good bye to the Bishop of the ward as well. Didn't think that we had a good relationship because it was previously strained just a little bit by some other missionaries, but he gave me a hug which warmed my heart quite a bit. It also made Elder Fell feel a lot better about the area knowing that things where pretty good with the Bishop. We as missionaries work very closely with members. Times have changed, and really the best way to find someone that is interested in investigating the church is through members that have had a powerful influence on them as they live the gospel.

The new ward... Well needless to say it is AMAZING. there is a totally different spirit about missionary work here. I got to baptize someone on the mission! The previous missionary in the area and Elder Fougerous had taught a Less-Active families children. unfortunately the previous Elder that had a pretty good relationship with them was transferred. So I walked in and was able to baptize Jared. These children are amazing. Their parents are as well. Their mother(or Aunty for Mia the little girl) is a strong member now after being re-activated. Her partner is a humble man who has been coming to church recently. He is probably the next person to be baptized in the near future. He has been to church 2 times all ready, and stood up in priesthood and said that "He is here to stay". We have got some teaching ahead of us to do. The Bishop and the Aux leaders are on the ball with missionary work I was blown away with how involved they where. Now it is up to me (I am Senior Companion now) to catch the train and make sure that I can keep up with the Ward in the work that they are doing! It has been a bit of a whirl wind of new names and faces to keep track of, a new area book to work with and new investigators. I love my companion of course, we are getting along real well. His name I have mentioned before is Elder Fougerous, and he is from........ Tahiti! He is real cool, and has been out on the mission just a little bit longer than me. He speaks pretty good English. His native tongue is French and Tahitian. Pretty neat to have such a cool companion. He has been in the area for a while so I have been letting him show me area a bit.

Needless to say things are pretty good here. I am excited. It is certainly nice to be in a new area, but I do miss the people in my last area for sure. I wish I could tell you guys everyhting that has happened but it is simply not possible. There are some great missionaries in the Panmure Zone and some great things happening. I haven't moved to far geographically. I am actually pretty close to the other side of my first area Onehunga. Lots of people here in the Wuipuna Ward know people for my first ward. A few relatives live here as well form my first ward. New Zealand is a pretty small place. It is not unusual to think of it as a small world because we meet so many people that all ready know people that we have met before! 

I am happy that the family is doing well. Thank you for the e-mails as well. The carnival must have been a blast! 

Oh and just a side question, do you guys still got the tandem bicycle with you? I think I am going to give it the code name... "the Dating Machine". Hope that gives you guys a few chuckles.

You got a picture of the Baptism, Jared and Mia. I baptized Jared and Confirmed him. The picture of the cat is "Precious" she is just a big fat cat that the Tua'aho's own. She is the best. She would climb on our laps during the lesson and she would always want attention. Elder Rogers wasn't to keen because he was Allergic to cats! But they took that picture and sent it to me, so I figured I would send it home to you guys.

Love You All!

Love,
Elder Ward

Elder Fougerouse and I with Elder Johnston poking his head in.(Our Zone Leader)