20 July 2015 Interviews

This week was a busy week. Went on trade-offs with some missionaries that live about an hour south of this main little town that we serve in. We had a pretty good time and we enjoyed it quite a bit. Lots of traveling though. Ended up taking their cell phone after we traded back and we drove all the way down and all the back up to give them there cell phone. 2 hours of driving makes you tired as! Also went on a trade off with our Elder Adams one of our Zone Leaders. it was his Birthday that day so it was even more of a treat! His family got real creative and sent him a video through the Bishops ward that he was currently serving in and he watched it. He really loved it and enjoyed it. Every day they have to drive about 45min into their area everyday to and from. They work way out into the country so it is a really neat area. Sometimes they where rubber boots when they proselyte because it is so wet and muddy! I got to where some a on a trade off which was pretty awesome. I got a picture too....

On Friday we had interviews with President Balli. Everyone was so excited for it. It is an opportunity to have a simple one on one with him and you. Ask questions, and express concerns. He asked me about how I was doing serving as a District Leader, as he was concerned about how stressed I was. I learned on my mission that I tend to stress way to much. I was happy to tell him that I have adjusted well and that I really enjoy serving as a District Leader. We had a wonderful chat and we really enjoyed it. One thing that all the Elders and Sisters love about President Balli is how much love that he has for us as missionaries. He really cares about how we are doing and what our concerns are. Instead of only doing 15min interviews, he will gladly go over time with us. Showing love is something that he wants us to show to everyone that we meet. Investigators, our companions, and members.

That evening after our interview with President Balli, we went to a Ward activity. They had a wicked dance. Lots of people came as well. Including our investigators that we are working with. Luke and Niya, and Marlene and her daughter Tayla. It was pretty great. We stood outside simply because it was a bit wordily and took pictures as people came in. Everyone had a great time! It was amazing to see Luke and Niya getting into it as well. They really enjoyed it.

This week though investigator wise we had some great things happen. For this area we had Luke, and Niya come to church which is awesome! They need to be baptized and they are so ready for it, however they feel as if they need to prepare a bit more. They are ready though that is the thing! We are doing our best to build their desire to be baptized so they can be motivated take care of getting married. Marlene is also LA that has recently come back to church. She talked with Bishop Pita about having her daughter baptized and we now have a baptism coming up on the 2nd of August! Missionaries have been visiting that family for a very long time and Elder Lene and I are now blessed to assist in finishing the lessons and helping her with the final preparations for baptism. 

It looks like everyone on the their scouting excursions had a fantastic time! I liked the e-mails this week Mother having 2 this week was a real treat. I am glad that you where able to have so much help with getting around. Eric has certainly gotten bigger... It's crazy. I loved what Madelyn shared about her camping experience as well. Loved the pictures to as well

You got a picture of me in "Gum Boots" as they call it here in NZ. That was so cool!

And then you have the Cultural Hall all decked out with projectors and lights.
Love You all lots!

 A gorgeous picture of NZ once again. :)

 This is what NZ police cars look like. Colorful Lolly pops.

 Bishop Pita was constantly telling people that he was the Incredible Hulk not Shrek... Thor is our first counselor in our ward. His name is Brother Kruger

 Luke and Niya, they had a blast at the dance. We kind of took the picture in the middle of an activity they where doing, still turned out nice.

And then you have Marlene ( The one in the red without the face paint) and Tayla The girl in the black towards the lower left. It was great to see them there for sure!

Love, 
Elder Ward

13 July 2015 Trade-offs!

This week was a busy one as usual. As a District leader I went on trade-offs with the Elders that are serving in the Bream Bay area. It was good to be back! A few of the members we saw were a bit surprised to see me back! They thought that I was gone for good! Still though it is neat to be able to go back and help those Elders with the area. Just for some information, trade-offs are when 2 missionary companionship's switch their companions so they can learn something new. They are fun and helps out a lot with becoming a better missionary. Sometimes we get stuck in the same ruts. Teaching things the same way over and over. Trade-offs helps learn new ways to teach things and work in the area when comes to finding new investigators.

I taught District Meeting this week as well. I wasn't too nervous or anything. It went pretty well and we learned a lot. Well I learned a lot! Things went all right. It was my first time so what could I expect? We had a bit of fun and we did do some role plays with each other. Next time I do though I will be a bit more prepared, and have a better idea of what to do. It's great being a District Leader, and I am going to do my best to help these Elders and Sisters in the district!

In Denby Ward we had 4 investigators come to church. We had Luke and Niya come with Niya's younger Sister as well. They have been taught by missionaries for a very long time. They have been doing so well. It has been 3 weeks since they last smoked and they have been coming to church consistently for the past while now... That's all that I know! Anyways after sacrament meeting we had a lesson with them. Elder Lene and I originally planned to teach about the commandments. We went off teaching about the scriptures and how we can study form them. It is interesting to hear from a non-members perspective what they think of the scriptures and how they feel. Often times very intimidated seeing members flip through scriptures like experts and expound complex wording as well. It was great though. We showed them how to cross-reference, and dig deeper to understand the scriptures as well. They were so happy to learn about it. One example was cross referencing the 10 commandments in the Book of Mosiah and Exodus. We read through them as well and they then asked a question about the Sabbath day and working on it. We had a great discussion with them on it and learned lots! We could have just plowed on and taught about all the commandments and so on, but I am so glad that we followed the spirit in that lesson and answered their sincere question. Their own personal inquiry made it so much valuable to them as well! 

That was probably the best teaching highlight of the week for us.

Things are going well in the mission. It does get harder as time goes on. Sometimes as an older missionary in the field you can be stuck in your old ways and not want to change, but it is always important to change, especially when you get no results. Always still learning on the mission, you never will know everything you need to know about missionary work.

Love You All lots! Pictures are of some beautiful land next to their home in Bream Bay. This was just before dinner.  And then the other is frost. That is about as cold as it gets here in NZ. The flats here have no insulation so they very cold. That's all right though. We bundle up next to the heater. :)

Love, 
Elder Ward

A Beautiful morning sunrise. A view form our flat!

6 July 2015 What a Big Week...

This week was a big one for sure... Transfers came quick and boy was it a surprise as to what happened. I got transferred. It is the shortest amount of time that I have stayed in an area. Just 3 months which is a bit annoying. I kind of like staying for a while because you really get to know that area well and you also get to really try hard to find those that are willing to receive you. It's ok though I didn't really go far. I got transferred about a half hour away into Whangerei the town it self. Bream Bay is about a half hour away, and it just borders the town. I am now serving in a ward called Denby Ward. That is not all though. Last Monday evening the phone rang while we where driving back to the District Leaders flat in Town. We stay the night at The District Leaders flat so we can do shopping the next day in town and e-mail as well. P-day ends at 6 and we then drive about 10min to the North part of our area and do and visit a few people there for the evening and then drive back again so we can stay for District meeting for the next day, and also save k's with going all the way back. It is a bit fun staying with other Elders needless to say :D. Turns out that it was President Balli, and he then let me know that I was being transferred and assigned to serve as a District leader replacing our current District Leader as he was then assigned to serve as a Zone Leader in Whangerei! To be honest at that moment I was very nervous. Serving as a leader in the mission field is a big deal, and as it says in the White handbook "it should not be taken lightly". However I am enjoying it so much. Serving the other Elders and Sisters in our District is a privilege and is a great delight to serve and help them. Whether it be teaching them about a principal in PMG, or giving them supplies they need for the work that they are doing in their area, and much more. We have all ready had a companionship study with the Sisters as they are both new to the area and are trying there best to get a grip on the area. I am also excited to go on trade-offs with The Elder Mahreza who is still serving in Bream Bay with his new companion Elder Thorpe. It will be great to see those that I got to teach, and members that I cam e to know so well.  I am excited and I will do my best. Lot's of praying and studying. It is important to also be humble as a leader, as they often learn a lot more from those they serve than those that are being served. It is easier said than done though.

Yesterday in Bream Bay though DJ did go up and bear his testimony to everyone. He said that he "knows the church is true". He is so close to baptism and is really doing well with preparing  for it. Lauren didn't make it though. She felt church to be a bit overwhelming for her, however she did enjoy it. She said that she wants to take just small baby steps for now, which is fine. We do not want to make her feel uncomfortable by pushing her over. Things are going good in Bream bay and Elder Mahreza will take good care of it for sure.

Here in Denby we proselyte in a real similar to Auckland Neighborhoods, it is still different and we still have country areas or "bush" areas as they would call it here in NZ. We have some good investigators that we are working with though. I will tell you more about them next week. I would like to share one experience though we had yesterday. 

We visited members for dinner, and asked who where some recent converts that they havn't seen around for a while. They mentioned 2 names. We went and visited one that evening. We met her son, and he was a bit shy to us as it had been a while since the missionaries had popped up on his door step. He hesitently let us in, we had a YSA young man with us at the time, so we could enter into the home. We started to sing a song so we could lead into thought when the mother, who we were originally looking for came back form her run around the neighborhood. She was a bit surprised and it was a bit awkward you could say. However though, we introduced ourselves and we continued. By the end of the visit we had built a great relationship with her. We learned that she worked for the police force and that she has a very interesting job working for the youth. That discussion took up much of the time that we spent there. It was great though, we ended with a small scripture for all of us to ponder on, and it was great to see this Sister reach and find something to write on so she could write it down and remember it. She still has a testimony, but at the moment she is going through a lot in family matters, relationship wise. We didn't teach a profound lesson sprinkled with scriptures and intelligent thoughts. We simply got to know her and express to her that the Ward missed her, and the we the missionaries are there to help her in her journey with the gospel, and help her feel the spirit again. We should be seeing her next week. It was a fantastic visit!

Well there is so much more that I would love to type, but time does not permit sadly. I am now companions with Elder Lene. We have actually served around each other a lot! We where so excited to find out that we where serving together! I have sent pictures with him home before. He is a fantastic missionary with a powerful testimony.

Got some more mean pictures, me and my new companion. These pictures where taken at a members home that we had a zone devotional at. They have the most amazing view ever!

The camps sound like fun, send lot's of pics!


Love You All!

Love, 
Elder Ward

29 June 2015 - 3 Investigators

We had 3 investigators at our sacrament meeting this week. It was great! DJ came to church. He is certainly feeling at home there. We are still teaching him, however his older Sister is still a big concern. She has not come to church for a month and everyone in the Branch is worried for her. We did visit this week with our branch president and she seemed to be doing just fine. She seems to really tied up with life right now and relationships. 

Raylene is 9 or 10 years old and her Grand Mother and Great Grand Mother are very active in the church. She has always been around them and has come to church. Just recently though she started getting serious though with investigating and also baptism. We taught the first lesson this week and it wen t well. We left with her a commitment to read the introduction of the Book of Mormon with her Great Grand Mother. She should be ready for baptism soon! We don't want to rush her, and make sure that it is her making the decision and not her Extended family. Her family is also concerned about that as well.

The 3rd person that came to church was a bit of a miracle. Her name is Lauren., I don't think that I mentioned her last time. She was taught by missionaries a long time ago. They never made a teaching record it seems. They INvited her to be baptized and she said no because she did not feel prepared. She was also going through a lot at that time as well. The waters have settled for her and she seems to be interested and ready to progress. After she said no to baptism the missionaries seemed to have stopped going by. The missionaries where transferred and she was forgotten about. We met Lauren just by talking with people on the street. She mentioned her past experiences with the missionaries and I was a bit blown away. I wen t back to the area book looked for a teaching record and could not find one. However though I did go through a weekly progress report and found her name there from years ago, so what she said was most certainly true. We have been visiting her for the past few weeks at her door step and we have been sharing meaningful thoughts with her. We invited her to Church, and also mentioned that we where going to be having a linger longer as well. She came to church though much to our surprise. She missed sacrament, only because she did not know exactly where the church was. She went to the local Morai  ( Moari meeting house) actually thinking that we where meeting there but she was still able to find the house we where at. She brought her 2 sons, one was autistic, he loved the place and was running around everywhere which was great! The sisters where so kind though to her and encouraged her to stay despite her considering to leave because the kids where hungry. She enjoyed , but I could also see that it was a lot for her to take in as well. We have an official appointment this week and we are certainly looking forwards to it.

Overall though it was a pretty great week.We had a lot of success. Reuben is doing well. He enjoys coming back over to teach him the New Member Lessons. He has missed church a few times due to various inconvenient commitments, however he is still doing well.
Love you all and thanks so much for all that you do for me.

Love Elder Ward

Some beautiful Landscape.

 I went on a trade off with our District Leaders companion. We tried to visit some members that live in this house boat it was so cool! They live in it and they travel sometimes in it. Really cool!

22 June 2015 Invitations are important...

For this week we really worked hard to invite people to the showing of Meet the Mormons. We had one of our members (Brother Mills, who has e-mailed you guys before) print out 200 flyers and we put up posters as well. We handed out all the flyers. We organized to have warm soup there as well with some refreshments. Sunday evening the time came and we went to the town hall of Waipu and set up the event. Brother Mills came with the projector and video equipment, we set it up and got the chairs all organised. It fell together quite well. Many members of the Branch came and supported us. A few of them had not seen the video either so it was their first time. We waited for people to come and join us that we had invited. My heart breaks to report this, but no one came. There was not a single non-member there. Not even DJ was able to make it. It doesn't matter though. The Branch saw this and was invigorated in their own personal desire to work harder in their missionary efforts. They saw it as a great act of faith before the Lord, in our desire to share the gospel. There are many reasons why people may have not come, maybe it was just not a good time, a "cold/freezing" (as NZ'ers put it) Sunday evening. We don't know, but the first thing Brother Mills said to after we watched it was, "Give me a date and time". Needless to say we are going to keep trying. We have 3 main towns that we work in... ( They are not too big, you could walk form one end to the other in about 7min and are surrounded by farm land) and we are going to organize to have showings there as well. Try even harder to advertise and invite all those that we meet. I know our Father in Heaven was pleased with what we did as missionaries and as a Branch, and I know because of how I felt inside, good warm and happy, or the Spirit.

Good things are happening. Raylene, I am not to sure if I mentioned her before, is the  grand daughter of a very active Grandmother, and great Grandmother. Her father is LA and is not interested. However though her extended family have faithfully been taking her to church for quite a while. She hasn't been baptized yet because the family simply does not want to push her into it and then watch her decide not to go to church one day. She seems to be coming around. She came to church last Sunday and a question was brought up about the baptismal interview questions. She was nervous about that idea. I took out my handy dandy planner and turned to the page with the questions on it handed it to her so she could read it for herself and know that there are no surprises. She felt much better after reading them over quickly them. We will be teaching her tonight. We are going to show Meet the Mormons, as that is what her Great Grandmother asked us to do. Lots, of people should be there, and LA's even and she will enjoy it as well.

DJ has been doing ok. It is a bit tough at the moment because he has 2 older Sisters. both converts. The older one (20's) is active as, and the younger was recently baptized in March. She is struggling a bit though because certain circumstances( I won't go into details for now), and that has thrown a wrench in the system. The big concern now is the older Sister who is struggling  before we really can help DJ move along.

Well that's about it for this week. We are doing well Elder Mahreza and I. I want to keep working hard and use all the time that I have left on my mission to it's best. It goes quick. Mixed feelings for sure as with all missionaries when they get near the end of their missions.

I know Heavenly Father loves us all. I am thankful for his son Jesus Christ, I know that he lives, and how wonderful is his sacrifice. 



Love,
Elder Ward

So there is another Elder Ward in our District, he is going home tomorrow, he is a great missionary. We are related.. I just had to ask if he was related to Hyrum and he said yes and I said "Sweet we're cuzzies!!!" as they say here in NZ. 

 And then also you have a picture of the event! It was a great success!

 So I got a chance to eat a raw oyster... It was all right. It wasn't to bad actually, and I had 2 of them. A LA fiance pretty much insisted that Elder Mahreza and I eat it.

Kinu is guess..................... Sea Urchin. It is a bit of an acquired taste. It wasn't to bad though. It's like the Moari caviar. It tastes, like it is from the sea, and it is pretty strong. Thats the only way I can describe it.

14 June 2015 Meet the Mormons

Elder Mahreza and I have been passing out to flyers to those that we meet on the streets, and inviting like mad to make sure that we have a good turn out. I have attached a picture of one of the posters that we put up in the little town of Waipu and also Ruakaka. There have been serveral people that have had a warm response to our invitation. A few have turned it down, not liking the fact that it is about "Religion". All well there loss unfortunatly. I was thinking to myself the other day about how you said that many of the people on the base don't even except us as Christians, despite explaining, reasoning, and expounding. Maybe the Branch could organize an event and invite friends and co-workers to it so they can have an enjoyable time and also maybe have a few myths shut out. 
Even if a few people only come, they would still generate a lot of conversation others, and share what they learned from the video. We are also having the relief Society bring warm soup and bread so people have an enjoyable snack to keep them warm and cozy.

Reuben was able to make it to church this past Sunday. He was given the Aaronic Priesthood! There is now another priesthood holder in the Bream Bay Branch! Many of the members are excited about that. Reason being is because it simply means growth. There are many Sisters attend which is wonderful. But with out Priesthood holders to hold leadership postitions, the Branch cannot really move forwards. Reuben is happy to be a memeber. I was so privledged as a missionary to be part of his conversion process. It was not me, nor previous missionaries who converted him, it was simply the Branch and the strength that is in it.. The Lord of course played the biggest role of all!

DJ is doing all right. Unfortunatly progress has slowed due to some ripples in the family. DJ has 2 older Sisters who are members. You have Marama, and Mandy. Mandy is a recent convert since march, and Marama is a convert of about 2 years. Mandy at the moment is struggling a little bit and we want to make sure that she stays on the right path. You could look at it as we need to make sure Mandy is strong before we can then baptise DJ. Or at least that would be best and preferable. DJ is close and we are still seeing him.

Other than that we do have a few other people that we are seeing, and doing our best with helping them to get to the point where they are progressing.

We hiked the peak of a local Mountain called Mount Mania. It had a stunning view of our area. That beach you see all along the coast is part of our area that we cover. I don't think I run out of beautiful things to take pcitures of here in NZ!

Love you all!

Elder Ward

 We visited a lady that has loved reading the pamphlets and this is the view right next to her home... The water was perfectly still and was a perfect reflection of the pink sky!

 A picture of me at the Zone Leaders flat in the morning. I was a bit sick so I rested while they prepped for the big feed. Today we are having an "umu" (oomoo) or "hangi" (haungy). It is an under ground oven where cook the food by heating rocks to red hot and then putting them in the ground and then the food on top with wet blankets to trap the heat and steam the food.  

9 June 2015 - Elder Mahreza

Well this week was a bit slow, however there are a lot of other things that are happening in our area that I don't think that I have mentioned to you guys. 

Elder Mahreza is form Jacarta, Indonesia. He currently lives in Babasi. I don't think that those are spelled right but I think that you should be able to find them on a map. What a great experince it is to serve with him. He is really humble and he does speak English well. He has been out for 5 months, and he had to learn English in the MTC. He is pretty much fluent and can have a well involved conversation with someone on the street. It is amazing to think that he has learned so quickly. His native tongue is Indonesian. They do have many dialects in Indonesia, however they do have a national Indonesian Launguage. His Grandparents where converts to the church. He has been born into it, as well as both of his parents. HIs Sister is currently serving in Indonesia itself. To attend the temple they have to go to the Hong Kong temple, however he took out his endowment when he came to NZ. They always make a trip from the MTC to the temple so those missionaries that don't have their endowment can get it. They did not even have it in his launguage. Something I can't fathom is how difficult it must have been in the MTC for him. There was no one that could speak his laungauge, no translators no nothing. He could not speak any English whatsoever. They were taught it in school, but, they never really learned, similar to highschool launguage classes. (haha) I thought that the MTC experice was hard, but my goodness for Elder Mahreza it must have been a highly challenging experience. He is a humble missionary, he certainly is going to go on and serve a great mission. He works so hard and is so diligent in his language studies.

We are planning a showing of Meet the Mormons in one of the nearby villages called Waipu. We are going to be renting out the town hall and getting flyers organised and invite like mad to the event. It should be awesome! We are hoping that it will help generate more curiousity and openess when we speak with people. a problem with small villages is that everyone tends to knwo each other and also attend the same church or have the same ideas. We have shared it with a few people and they have shown some great intrest in it.

Yesterday we had a Zone conference. Which is the reason why we did not e-mail on monday. Hope that you wheren't to concerened about it. Forgot to mention it last e-mail. It was a great Zone training though. Presdient Balli is such an inspired man. He taught us how we could use the Book of Mormon more effectivly when we teach. Elder cook also mentioned a few things at the mission conference that really apply to missionary work. Everything from understanding that we are builders of God's kingdom and not ust sales men was one of the messages that was expanded, and also that we ourselves are the message to the people that we meet and see. We are the ones sharing our testimony everywhere we go, we are the ones that dress nicely and are groomed well to show the importence of our message. It was just great. Thats something that I have always loved about the mission is the trainings. They are always so clear, and crisp in helping us become better missionaries. I will miss that after my mission for sure.

I do have some mean pictures but I think I might need to send them next week

Thanks for the e-mails sorry I could not get back to each one.

Love,
Elder Ward