Sorry but this is going to be another dissapointing e-mail without pictures. The computers at this library stink. The usb function it is faulty as.
This was the first week I got to attend sacra,ent at the branch. We have church in a rented house. It is actually quite nice really. I have taken a picture but the computers... There are about 30 people that attend regularly and we have sacrament meeting in the garage. It is pretty cool.
Investigator wise though we do have a few great potentials. Ruben is a Moari fella who has had lots of contact witht the church in the past. Elder Donaldson and his previous companion have been all ready working with thim. He is a bit busy with work but Ruben understands the importance of this commitment and is looking forwards to it. In one of our last visits he said that he would start coming to church regularly now. He is so humble, and we are looking forwards to having him baptized this coming trasfer, maybe even at the beach! That would be a neat experience for sure. We have a few other potentials that we are working with, but we will see this week.
The work here up north is a bit slow compared to Auckland City. Boy am I enjoying the scenery though. Once I get on a computer that works properly I will send heaps and heaps of pictures. The farm land is so beutiful up here. It is very green, and I always hald to remind myself how beutiful it really is around here! Lots of Cattle, and of course sheep. Some fun roads to drive on as well. I am well use to fricing on the other side of the road now. I think that it is going to be a bit wierd coming back. I have been told that once you drive on both sides, it is easy to switch form then on.
Well work is moving forwards and I am glad to be part of it. I have been wanting to send an letter home for ages, but e-mail seems to really undermine it. I will though. I will try for a package sometime soon.
Ok well thanks for the e-mails, despite all the sad news with Jelly and Eric and his DS. Hopefully things perk up!
Love you all!
Love,
Elder Ward
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Boom!
Boom! Just like that after Elder Hann was picked up last Tuesday Morn, I received a call that I was to be transferred :( Boy was it hard going around seeing family's and saying good by to them. Some of which I knew very well. Brother Semati's family was probably the hardest of all because we have worked with them so much. They said that they would even come visit me before I went home where ever I was. Sister Gaui, brother Semati's partner, was very sad, and even began to shed some tears. My heart was softened, and I gave them words of encouragement to keep moving forwards. They are a great family and I will certainly miss them! I also said good by to Jeremy and his wonderful daughter. They where sad to see me go, and so was I. We took a picture of course. I will keep in touch with the m as well. I did leave my testimony of the plan of Salvation with him. We tried to see everyone, but that simply was not possible. I was with my District Leader and his companion for the day as well that was lots of fun for sure. I would not have minded staying in the area for another 6 weeks in which would total 7 1/2 months, but the Lord saw fit other wise. I left the area book as up to date as possible for the next Elders to come in because being double shifted into an unknown area is hard!
Where did I go to??? Whangeria! Pronounced Fan-gah-ray. I am now out of Auckland City and I am up North serving in the country side. I love it out here! It is so scenic and pretty. Lot's of live stock. We have a car and I am the one driving making it even more fun! My new companion is Elder Donaldson for Australia, he has been in the area for 6 months all ready. He has been showing me around. The members are great here as well. I haven't met to many of them however. I arrived here on Thursday and Elder Donaldson was sick so we stayed in the flat for the rest of Thursday, and most of Friday. Friday Evening we drove up to the main town with some other Elders that caught a ride with us and stayed the night at our District Leaders place. That was fun staying a flat with 6 Elders. We stayed there for all of General conference and I loved it! We drove back after the last session on Sunday. WE serve in a Branch called Bream Bay Branch. We live in a town called Ruakaka the chapel that we attend is actually a house! They rent a house and have sacrament meeting in a garage. It is actually quite a nice house. All the meetings happen in it.
I only have met one of the investigators here, so I can't really give a thorough report on that. But one thing for sure is that I do miss Waipuna ward and all the wonderful people that I served and taught with there. I will be keeping in touch with them for sure.
Now for the most disappointing part of this e-mail... I don't have pictures. I left my camera back at the District leaders flat... I will have it next week for sure. Sorry about that. If there was an e-mail I would like to have pictures for it would be this one!
I had a great Easters, we didn't really get anything, but we did eat dinner with the newly called Bishop Ikimaus home. We also had a great lesson with one of our investgators.
Love You All!
Love,
Elder Ward
Where did I go to??? Whangeria! Pronounced Fan-gah-ray. I am now out of Auckland City and I am up North serving in the country side. I love it out here! It is so scenic and pretty. Lot's of live stock. We have a car and I am the one driving making it even more fun! My new companion is Elder Donaldson for Australia, he has been in the area for 6 months all ready. He has been showing me around. The members are great here as well. I haven't met to many of them however. I arrived here on Thursday and Elder Donaldson was sick so we stayed in the flat for the rest of Thursday, and most of Friday. Friday Evening we drove up to the main town with some other Elders that caught a ride with us and stayed the night at our District Leaders place. That was fun staying a flat with 6 Elders. We stayed there for all of General conference and I loved it! We drove back after the last session on Sunday. WE serve in a Branch called Bream Bay Branch. We live in a town called Ruakaka the chapel that we attend is actually a house! They rent a house and have sacrament meeting in a garage. It is actually quite a nice house. All the meetings happen in it.
I only have met one of the investigators here, so I can't really give a thorough report on that. But one thing for sure is that I do miss Waipuna ward and all the wonderful people that I served and taught with there. I will be keeping in touch with them for sure.
Now for the most disappointing part of this e-mail... I don't have pictures. I left my camera back at the District leaders flat... I will have it next week for sure. Sorry about that. If there was an e-mail I would like to have pictures for it would be this one!
I had a great Easters, we didn't really get anything, but we did eat dinner with the newly called Bishop Ikimaus home. We also had a great lesson with one of our investgators.
Love You All!
Love,
Elder Ward
Sunday, April 12, 2015
April 5, 2015 - Great things, change is happening!
Well I will start off with the grand news and let you guys know that Jodie was finally baptized! Our former Bishop that was just released baptized her because he was the one that performed there marriage making even more special meaningful. I am grateful for the chance that I had to teach her and help her gain a testimony! The baptismal service was simple and it went well. There was a lot of planning done by Elder Hann and Myself. It has been 6 months since the first time we made contact with them! It has been a long but special!
Elder Hann is going home... He will be flying out of NZ Tuesday at 12:00am. I have loved this transfer with him. It has been a real treat to serve with an Elder like him. He has helped me become more personable in the teaching that I do. WE have a pretty interesting relationship and we certainly are going to be missing each other. I was thinking that I could go visit him in Scottland after the mission because travel in the EU is so cheap. We will have to see but it would be worth it to see him and more of Europe. I will be with my District Leader and his Companion till transfers when I get my new companion. I think that I will staying in the area. That will mean 71\2 months! But it has been totally worth it! I love it here, and to be honest I know the memebrs so well that it feels like home. I almost could imagine leaving this ward. Maybe that's a bad thing and will make things difficult haha.
I am excited for General conference for sure. We will be watching it this weekend.
For this week though we didn't see to much progress from our investigators, like , Chris and Nia, and Selenah. We are still keeping in touch with Jeremy. There daughter is still full of energy. The Chemo is hard on her though. Everyone was quite busy with the Easter weekend. Still though the area is doing wonderful. When Elder Hann first came into the area he said that he felt like he was in Candy Land since he had just come from a relatively slow area. It has been good and I am looking forwards to the next few months!
Thanks so much and love you all!
Love,
Elder Ward
Me... Over enthuesed about fixing my bike. I bought new tires and tubes. My tires where worn bald and the tubes where old and getting holes a lot! We had to call the district leader because we where pretty much stranded.
We got a picture with Jodie and her husband Lorenzo. He is pretty photogenic! This was after the baptism. they where just beginning to clean up the refreshments.
A large portion of the ward that we serve in. We helped them clean up the chapel today and they then played a bit of sport. It conviently was a farewell party for Elder Hann. Got a great picture!
Elder Hann is going home... He will be flying out of NZ Tuesday at 12:00am. I have loved this transfer with him. It has been a real treat to serve with an Elder like him. He has helped me become more personable in the teaching that I do. WE have a pretty interesting relationship and we certainly are going to be missing each other. I was thinking that I could go visit him in Scottland after the mission because travel in the EU is so cheap. We will have to see but it would be worth it to see him and more of Europe. I will be with my District Leader and his Companion till transfers when I get my new companion. I think that I will staying in the area. That will mean 71\2 months! But it has been totally worth it! I love it here, and to be honest I know the memebrs so well that it feels like home. I almost could imagine leaving this ward. Maybe that's a bad thing and will make things difficult haha.
I am excited for General conference for sure. We will be watching it this weekend.
For this week though we didn't see to much progress from our investigators, like , Chris and Nia, and Selenah. We are still keeping in touch with Jeremy. There daughter is still full of energy. The Chemo is hard on her though. Everyone was quite busy with the Easter weekend. Still though the area is doing wonderful. When Elder Hann first came into the area he said that he felt like he was in Candy Land since he had just come from a relatively slow area. It has been good and I am looking forwards to the next few months!
Thanks so much and love you all!
Love,
Elder Ward
Sunday, April 5, 2015
29 March 2015 Weekly E-mail
It sounds like there is a lot that is going on back at home I would have to say! Dad being off on the Hospital ship is very neat as well as the church providing materials is quite awesome. All the other Elders that I am e-mailing with think that it is cool!
Well to start off with telling you guys about how the week has gone I guess I will have to say that Jodie did not get baptized. Sometimes I simply just want to pull my hair out but this isn't eh case. It is not really Jodie herself it is more of just the fact that things keep interfering with the date. This week SHOULD be this week. Her younger brother being the culprit in this case. Here in New Zealand, the culture is interesting. I guess like the states the 21st Birthday is a big deal here. Also the first birthday of a child is a big deal as well. Really more of a celebration for adults rather than the child. Similar to the celebrations that I described before such as weddings or funerals, they are big. Jodie was unfortunately roped into throwing her younger brother a party for him and all his friends on the Saturday of her baptism. In the end Baptism is so much more important than his worldly celebration, however, Jodie felt it would be better to put if off for one more week. It will ultimately be better. She does have a sincere desire to be baptized, so more time will only help her be better prepared. Jodie is great she is truly converted, and the Lord has blessed me as a missionary to help prepare her for baptism, with the end in mind, Temple marriage.
Toru, well sorry I don't think I do the best at keeping up with each investigator, but Toru has unfortunately fallen out of the teaching pool. His family stepped in and asked to tell us that they do not want us around their home (being 7th day Adventist), Toru himself is still interested. We have tried to contact him but his phone does not seem to work. So at teh moment we are trying to get teh YSA in the ward to contact him because he grew quite close to them as he spent time with them.
The Edmonds, are doing ok. There daughter Ana who has a common brain cancer among many children who are diagnosed with brain Cancer. She has been undergoing Chemo. It has only been a few weeks into it. She has now lost most of her hair. We try to go around and visit Jeremy the father every other day, but some days he is good for a visit, other days he doesn't really want to talk all that much. Just consistent support will be the best! We have been able to teach him here and there but for the most part likes the supporting chat.
Selenah, has been picked back up as an investigator. The reason she originally fell off was because of the Sisters leaving. After making contact with her again, we got some members that where close with her back in and now she is back on board. We had 2 good lessons with her the past 2 weeks. One we taught about the Holy Ghost by playing a game called cat and mouse. It is where you take cloths pins and tie strings on them about a foot long. You then put a coin in the center of everyone sitting in a circle and you then put the clothes pins around or just on the coin. Everyone holds the string for their mouse and then there is one person that holds a pot lid. A hot number is picked and then 2 dice are rolled. When the number comes up the person holding the lid then tries to catch the mice around the coin with the pot lid before they run away by pulling the string. It is a lot of fun and really breaks the ice. We then relate the dice to being the Holy Ghost, the lid Satan and his snares, and then clothes pins or mice simply represent us. The coin is world. We all live in the world, but the Holy Ghost is there to warn us of danger and tells us when we need to run. She really enjoyed that. The next appointment we had with her we talked about the Atonement and she learned a lot about how we are to improve every day of our lives and become better people gradually. We did a bit of a demonstration by using a nerf gun. We have a little single shooter so it doesn't become a big distraction in the flat, but teaching with it has been great. We challenge people to hit a target (any object in the home with reasonable distance) in the home 3 times in a row perfectly. We take a turn our selves of course. No is able to do it really, not even us, and the point is that our Father in Heaven have given us commandments to keep perfectly. It is next impossible to do so. Because of the Atonement though, the only thing that really matters though is that we are aiming in the right direction and trying our best. So that's a lot of detail, but they will make a good FHE activity. Hopefully my details are clear enough to figure it out. We always mingle scriptures in there as well. Often we teach with demonstrations because people here are very visual learners and they can often be shy. It really helps them know that you care about them and are there to answer their sincere questions.
Chris and Nia are both Samoan and they have 2 children. We started teaching them recently. We originally talked to Nia on the street as she was going to pick up their kids form school. We where persistent in getting a return appointment. Teaching them has been really wonderful. We have been having the 2nd counselor of the ward come out with us to be the fellowship for as he is Samoan as well. Chris and Nia are very humble, that is something that we have noticed. They are very teachable and ask brilliant questions to better their understanding. They have been good at keeping their commitments as well! We invited them to be baptized on May 2nd and they accepted. It is just a goal to work towards so we will help them the best we can!
Thanks for the e-mails!
Love,
Elder Ward
Elder Hann and I did a bit of service! We pulled down a grape vine for a Sister in the ward!
a coin got in our washing machine pump and I was able to pull the pump off and get it off. Normal tinkering me as usual!
Well to start off with telling you guys about how the week has gone I guess I will have to say that Jodie did not get baptized. Sometimes I simply just want to pull my hair out but this isn't eh case. It is not really Jodie herself it is more of just the fact that things keep interfering with the date. This week SHOULD be this week. Her younger brother being the culprit in this case. Here in New Zealand, the culture is interesting. I guess like the states the 21st Birthday is a big deal here. Also the first birthday of a child is a big deal as well. Really more of a celebration for adults rather than the child. Similar to the celebrations that I described before such as weddings or funerals, they are big. Jodie was unfortunately roped into throwing her younger brother a party for him and all his friends on the Saturday of her baptism. In the end Baptism is so much more important than his worldly celebration, however, Jodie felt it would be better to put if off for one more week. It will ultimately be better. She does have a sincere desire to be baptized, so more time will only help her be better prepared. Jodie is great she is truly converted, and the Lord has blessed me as a missionary to help prepare her for baptism, with the end in mind, Temple marriage.
Toru, well sorry I don't think I do the best at keeping up with each investigator, but Toru has unfortunately fallen out of the teaching pool. His family stepped in and asked to tell us that they do not want us around their home (being 7th day Adventist), Toru himself is still interested. We have tried to contact him but his phone does not seem to work. So at teh moment we are trying to get teh YSA in the ward to contact him because he grew quite close to them as he spent time with them.
The Edmonds, are doing ok. There daughter Ana who has a common brain cancer among many children who are diagnosed with brain Cancer. She has been undergoing Chemo. It has only been a few weeks into it. She has now lost most of her hair. We try to go around and visit Jeremy the father every other day, but some days he is good for a visit, other days he doesn't really want to talk all that much. Just consistent support will be the best! We have been able to teach him here and there but for the most part likes the supporting chat.
Selenah, has been picked back up as an investigator. The reason she originally fell off was because of the Sisters leaving. After making contact with her again, we got some members that where close with her back in and now she is back on board. We had 2 good lessons with her the past 2 weeks. One we taught about the Holy Ghost by playing a game called cat and mouse. It is where you take cloths pins and tie strings on them about a foot long. You then put a coin in the center of everyone sitting in a circle and you then put the clothes pins around or just on the coin. Everyone holds the string for their mouse and then there is one person that holds a pot lid. A hot number is picked and then 2 dice are rolled. When the number comes up the person holding the lid then tries to catch the mice around the coin with the pot lid before they run away by pulling the string. It is a lot of fun and really breaks the ice. We then relate the dice to being the Holy Ghost, the lid Satan and his snares, and then clothes pins or mice simply represent us. The coin is world. We all live in the world, but the Holy Ghost is there to warn us of danger and tells us when we need to run. She really enjoyed that. The next appointment we had with her we talked about the Atonement and she learned a lot about how we are to improve every day of our lives and become better people gradually. We did a bit of a demonstration by using a nerf gun. We have a little single shooter so it doesn't become a big distraction in the flat, but teaching with it has been great. We challenge people to hit a target (any object in the home with reasonable distance) in the home 3 times in a row perfectly. We take a turn our selves of course. No is able to do it really, not even us, and the point is that our Father in Heaven have given us commandments to keep perfectly. It is next impossible to do so. Because of the Atonement though, the only thing that really matters though is that we are aiming in the right direction and trying our best. So that's a lot of detail, but they will make a good FHE activity. Hopefully my details are clear enough to figure it out. We always mingle scriptures in there as well. Often we teach with demonstrations because people here are very visual learners and they can often be shy. It really helps them know that you care about them and are there to answer their sincere questions.
Chris and Nia are both Samoan and they have 2 children. We started teaching them recently. We originally talked to Nia on the street as she was going to pick up their kids form school. We where persistent in getting a return appointment. Teaching them has been really wonderful. We have been having the 2nd counselor of the ward come out with us to be the fellowship for as he is Samoan as well. Chris and Nia are very humble, that is something that we have noticed. They are very teachable and ask brilliant questions to better their understanding. They have been good at keeping their commitments as well! We invited them to be baptized on May 2nd and they accepted. It is just a goal to work towards so we will help them the best we can!
Thanks for the e-mails!
Love,
Elder Ward
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