All good. So for this week it was pretty good progressing investigator
wise for sure I would have to say. So last week I did mention that we
where going to be having a lesson with Howard that evening after P-day
was over. We had been trying to contact him all that day to make sure
he was all good for the lesson. By the end of it we weren't to sure if
he was going to show. We contacted the members (The Tonga Family) and
told them that we would still pop by just in case he came. I remember
Elder Rogers and I Praying before we were to go out for the evening.
I asked that we may may be able to teach Howard despite the lack of
communication. We showed up at the Tonga Families home and what do you
know? He is no there. We had a small chat with Lenny (Preparing to go
on a mission soon) about how things have been. We where actually
trying to peel away so we could go do some other visits, but just as
we where saying good by we heard a car pulling up the long as could be
drive way. We all turned and looked, and saw his car! Howard got out
and we all gave him a "Hey!!!". The lesson was great, he was a bit
busy that evening but he was still able to make it. We taught him the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have all ready taught him about the
Restoration, and the Plan of Salvation. The Gospel of Christ we taught
to emphasize the importance of Baptism. The Spirit was so strong. The
Tonga Family have such powerful Testimonies of the gospel in their
lives. They bore Beautiful testimonies of how the Gospel has blessed
there family, as there Parents where converts when they were younger.
Nothing could have brought the spirit in like they did. Missionaries
teach, and can bear testimony, but a members testimony is different,
because they are living in the World but not OF the world. Howard
really felt the spirit. We would ask him questions such as, "Is the
Holy Ghost a blessing that you would like to have in your life
Howard?" Those kinds of questions really help and investigators think
and consider what has been said and born of. We extended a commitment
for him to be baptized. He accepted, and of course acknowledged though
that he is having some issues with the word of Wisdom and as well as
the marriage situation. Elder Rogers and I told him that, that is what
we are here to do as missionaries as well as the members, help him
progress to the point at which he can be ready for baptism and come
closer to the Savior and his Father in Heaven. Probably one of the
most amazing lessons in all of mission. The members are the ones that
really made it, I think I have mentioned that a lot by now! We should
be seeing Howard this evening again. We will be talking a bit about
the Word of Wisdom, as well as gaining a strong testimony of the Book
of Mormons divinity. He didn't make it to church though.... :(
Apparently something came up and he got real busy. He knows that he
needs to and the importance of it. We have taught him before about the
Sabbath. He should be all good for this week though for sure.
Caroline! we got to sit down with her at the chapel this week and have
another lesson with her. She is still very keen. We haven't heard to
much about the family adding pressure. Apparently she has some real
good friends in the church that she has been talking to as well. For
the lesson we simply read some passages form the Book of Mormon, to
give her a better understanding of what it teaches about. During the
lesson we helped her understand that Joesph Smith did not write the
Book of Mormon, and that he in fact translated it. For some reason she
didn't quite understand that, no that it really makes that big of a
difference, but she as expressed the concern that she doesn't quite
under stand Joseph Smith and what he is all about. That's why we read
a few of the passages in the BoM. She explained to us that she had
been pondering about the Book of Mormon quite a bit since our last. We
then encouraged her to pray about it, she knows has an understanding
of it, so now she needs to pray about it as it says in the
Introduction. We are following up with her! She is one of the most
sincere investigators that I've seen. Caroline has great faith. She
was unable to make it to church also, because of the car apparently
was acting up. She is quite busy with her children.
Oh and of course Fa. We where planning on baptizing him this weekend..
However due to him not being able to go and attend church the next
Sunday to be confirmed is no good. So we are still working with him on
the Sabbath day. We didn't have a chance to meet up with him this
week. This was kind of of his "do or die week" with the word of
wisdom, well not really die, but he was planning on getting rid of the
smoking this week. Based on what we have heard form the Tua'ho Family,
he was at a Family function and they pressured him into breaking it.
Not to sure what exactly it was, but we still love him, and we are
going to help him conquer this mountain no matter what happens! We are
all learning to walk, just as many have explained it. Though we fall
our Father in heaven continues to pick us up brush us off and set us
on our way again. We the missionaries are to do exactly that. Because
we are simply his tools. :D Fa is awesome though. We are meeting with
him this Tuesday and we should be able to really see how he is doing
then. I think the Sabbath day is a bigger concern than that of Wow
though because work here in New Zealand is just ridiculous. We don't
know if he will be able to start coming consistently on Sunday or not.
It really does come down to asking the schedule to be changed. We will
be praying for sure.
We haven't been finding many new investigators lately. Just no one
interested has come about lately. Well actually last week we bumped
into Ricky we where knocking of the neighbors doors of a members house
and we bumped into him. He had a few questions for us but after a bit
of chatting he said that he would be interested in getting a copy of
the Book of Mormon. He is a Christian, so he is a bit hesitant to look
into it growing up thinking that the Bible was the only thing that was
needed. But we are planning to the chapel for a tour. I remember doing
that with Caroline and that was a great experience for sure. The
chapel really seems to shew away all those unknowns about us. Great
teaching opportunity as well as they continue to ask questions.
So for the weather here in New Zealand. I am pretty sure that the
weather man hates his job here in New Zealand. Probably can never
predict it. Often times it will rain periodically throughout the day.
We will see a big storm front coming and then it will just poor
buckets and buckets of rain for 10min, then it will just pass by. That
is how it has been for most of the Winter. But this week in particular
it has rained a lot. Hasn't been to fun considering that we where on
bikes. I did have a movie moment where a car drove by hit a puddle and
splashed water all over my side. Wasn't really that big of a deal
cause I was all ready pretty wet, but ya it was pretty funny. Elder
Rogers was having a laugh. Certainly does give you a better idea of
the "good" and "bad" weather that everyone talks about. It has been
sunny lately and that has been real nice to enjoy those few days
biking. It has been cold lately, especially in when on bikes, your
hands can turn into Popsicles! But it is warming up now and starting
to go into the Summer which is a real nice, but to be honest I am not
looking forwards to the sweaty summer of biking in the heat like it
was at the beginning of my mission. (Oh I have now used the term "the
beginning") The Jacket that I brought Mum has been really good. I
haven't bought a rain jacket yet. :S But because it is made up of wool
kit actually still keeps me warm. It sheds and repels the water well
also. I will hang it up in the flat when I get back and the water
actually soaks down towards the ends of the jacket which is real cool.
The shoulders will be relatively dry, just e ends of the sleeves are
wet.
Well I can't think of much else to type about, I enjoyed the pictures,
looks like Madelyn and Eric had an awesome party, especially with the
Candy Cannon. The picture of Daisy and jelly was cute as well. The the
cake was cool also!
Do take care. Love you all so much!
-Love Elder Ward
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
August 17, 2014
This week was a bit tougher than usual, we had a pretty hard time
contacting many of the people that are interested. I don't know what
the deal is. We go knock , we text and they just don't seem to exist
at times! Investigators progressing wise... Not so much happened.
Caroline has been feeling a lot of the pressure form her family fall
upon here. They have been saying that she needs to stop seeing us.
Elder Rogers and I where a bit disappointed when she said that. We
talked with her at her door step a little while discussing the
challenges that she may face if she continues to investigate the
church. She her self feels the desire to know if what we have shared
with her is true. She wants to more and sincerely keen to know more
about Joesph Smith. We encouraged er to read and pray, and to
understand that the division that she makes, may or may not help her
come closer to the Savior. We will have to see how it works out, we
are hoping that we will get a chance to teach her at the chapel this
week once again to help her better understand. We are praying as well
that the pressure of the family on her may change and work out for the
better. Never know now may simply not be the time. Some hearts may
need to be softened and some work needs to be done.
We also got in touch with Howard again. He had a bit of a party night
(He saw the laughing Samoans, I have been told to look them up on
Youtube, but of course I cannot. So maybe you guys can and tell me
what you thing of Pacific Islander Comedy. Don't know if it's clean
though) so he was unable to come to church although it was at 1pm. :\
All well we are planning on meeting and teaching him this evening at a
members home(The Tonga's). The Tonga family is a wonderful family.
They love having the missionaries over for dinner and we certainly
enjoy being with them. They have a daughter on a mission right now who
will be coming home very soon and everyone in the ward is going crazy
about it. Apparently she is a really wonderful person. Lots of people
should be coming to church and hopefully some of our investigators
will be able to come and enjoy the meeting as well. Anyways we are
really hoping for and awesome spiritual lesson. Howard has said that
he has been feeling good ever since he started going to church, and
that he has seen blessings come into his life from it. SO we are
excited!
Fa is going to baptized in our area! After a bit of leadership
decision making it was decided that he may be better off getting
baptized in our area. So we are excited, he has been really diligent
with reading his scriptures and looking for strength in them. He is
working hard to over come the word of wisdom. The challenge has been
smoking he is still floating around one a day now, so we are working
hard to get him just STOP. We often text him encouraging scriptures of
strength, he says that he really likes them and enjoys them. We are
happy for him. It still doesn't seem to real for me to be honest. So
things have been pretty good on that part. Another concern though is
that he is having issues with attending church because of work. He can
only come 1 every month so that has been a challenge for him. The
promise at Baptism is to be at church every Sunday, and that we will
do what we can to avoid working on Sunday. So we are probably going to
discuss that with him this coming week. Church is so important,
because it continues to build our faith, and partaking the sacrament
is a very important reminder of or covenants that we have made. If we
make it a priority to fix now it will not be as hard to fix down the
road because he is no longer going to church because of work. But he
is really doing awesome, such a privilege to work with him.
Last night we had an opportunity to go into Brother Hildalgos home.
The Hildalgo Family is wonderful. They have been sealed in the Temple,
and are storng in the faith. However Brother Hildalgo has not been to
church in quite along time due to work being such a priority. He
invited us in and we said that we would just be about 15min. It was
just him and his daughter at home Sister Hildalgo and the other
daughter where at a Young Womens and Relief Society Activity. WE sat
down and started reading form Alma 32, all about faith and nourishing
it. Brother Hildalgo explained to us that the family was a bit
financially strained and that work was very competitive as well
considering that he works with and technician for making glasses
lenses. I think he felt like we where being a bit harsh against him
for not coming to church which was not the direction that we wanted to
take it in. But we explained to him that we understand, all we wanted
to encourage him to do was read the scriptures with his family for
just a short little bit, as well as listen to them on his phone as he
drives to work. He said he would do it. At the end we ended with a
pray, he asked me to say a prayer, I stood up but then felt like we
should kneel together. I asked if that would be appropriate and he
said that would be fine. I am sure that was the spirit. I don't really
know if it made a difference, or what but I feel as if I had followed
a prompting to make it a more meaningful experience for him and his
daughter. We will be keeping in touch with the family and hopefully
reading the scriptures may soften some hearts, as we feel that it may
not just be about work.
So that's about it for the week. I got some pictures ready to send to
you guys. Figured out some stuff with all the bugs and what not. I got
a picture of the letter that took a little while to get hear (the half
year one) I really enjoyed that letter. I will be sure to write you
guys so you to can enjoy them as well. Thanks for the wonderful
e-mails. It was great hearing about all the things that happened! I
love the pictures. The bowling alley one was good because I got to see
how much Eric and Madelyn have grown!... as well as Stuart.....
anyways I think I have probably grown a bit as well ....have to see
when I get back. Glad the Eagle Project worked out as well it looks
really good. Hope that it works out well. And Jelly looks like a
really cute bird. I think the name is perfect for him and I think its
unique but still very discriptive. I look forwards to meeting him when
I come home, when that happens when its suppose to not really happen.
So there is a picture of a pizza!, Guess what is on it? Kangaroo!
Tasted pretty good. But I can now say that I have eaten Kangaroo! It's
probably like beef or something like that it unique for sure. And you
got a picture of what Elder Rogers and I look like when we study,
thought that may a be a good picture. You also got a picture of Pak in
Save, where we shop to get groceries. Pretty much a supper market. And
then of course you got us Elders in a car. They are in our District.
Elders Christmas form Canadia, and Elder Hatch for Idaho. We where
driving to one tree hill because some Elders and Sisters haven\t had a
chance to go. Oh we lost the car as well so we are on bikes now! :D A
seniors couple needs it, so no more car:D
Do take care love you all I am doing very well!
-Love Elder Ward
Sorry some of them failed to send next week for sure! :(
contacting many of the people that are interested. I don't know what
the deal is. We go knock , we text and they just don't seem to exist
at times! Investigators progressing wise... Not so much happened.
Caroline has been feeling a lot of the pressure form her family fall
upon here. They have been saying that she needs to stop seeing us.
Elder Rogers and I where a bit disappointed when she said that. We
talked with her at her door step a little while discussing the
challenges that she may face if she continues to investigate the
church. She her self feels the desire to know if what we have shared
with her is true. She wants to more and sincerely keen to know more
about Joesph Smith. We encouraged er to read and pray, and to
understand that the division that she makes, may or may not help her
come closer to the Savior. We will have to see how it works out, we
are hoping that we will get a chance to teach her at the chapel this
week once again to help her better understand. We are praying as well
that the pressure of the family on her may change and work out for the
better. Never know now may simply not be the time. Some hearts may
need to be softened and some work needs to be done.
We also got in touch with Howard again. He had a bit of a party night
(He saw the laughing Samoans, I have been told to look them up on
Youtube, but of course I cannot. So maybe you guys can and tell me
what you thing of Pacific Islander Comedy. Don't know if it's clean
though) so he was unable to come to church although it was at 1pm. :\
All well we are planning on meeting and teaching him this evening at a
members home(The Tonga's). The Tonga family is a wonderful family.
They love having the missionaries over for dinner and we certainly
enjoy being with them. They have a daughter on a mission right now who
will be coming home very soon and everyone in the ward is going crazy
about it. Apparently she is a really wonderful person. Lots of people
should be coming to church and hopefully some of our investigators
will be able to come and enjoy the meeting as well. Anyways we are
really hoping for and awesome spiritual lesson. Howard has said that
he has been feeling good ever since he started going to church, and
that he has seen blessings come into his life from it. SO we are
excited!
Fa is going to baptized in our area! After a bit of leadership
decision making it was decided that he may be better off getting
baptized in our area. So we are excited, he has been really diligent
with reading his scriptures and looking for strength in them. He is
working hard to over come the word of wisdom. The challenge has been
smoking he is still floating around one a day now, so we are working
hard to get him just STOP. We often text him encouraging scriptures of
strength, he says that he really likes them and enjoys them. We are
happy for him. It still doesn't seem to real for me to be honest. So
things have been pretty good on that part. Another concern though is
that he is having issues with attending church because of work. He can
only come 1 every month so that has been a challenge for him. The
promise at Baptism is to be at church every Sunday, and that we will
do what we can to avoid working on Sunday. So we are probably going to
discuss that with him this coming week. Church is so important,
because it continues to build our faith, and partaking the sacrament
is a very important reminder of or covenants that we have made. If we
make it a priority to fix now it will not be as hard to fix down the
road because he is no longer going to church because of work. But he
is really doing awesome, such a privilege to work with him.
Last night we had an opportunity to go into Brother Hildalgos home.
The Hildalgo Family is wonderful. They have been sealed in the Temple,
and are storng in the faith. However Brother Hildalgo has not been to
church in quite along time due to work being such a priority. He
invited us in and we said that we would just be about 15min. It was
just him and his daughter at home Sister Hildalgo and the other
daughter where at a Young Womens and Relief Society Activity. WE sat
down and started reading form Alma 32, all about faith and nourishing
it. Brother Hildalgo explained to us that the family was a bit
financially strained and that work was very competitive as well
considering that he works with and technician for making glasses
lenses. I think he felt like we where being a bit harsh against him
for not coming to church which was not the direction that we wanted to
take it in. But we explained to him that we understand, all we wanted
to encourage him to do was read the scriptures with his family for
just a short little bit, as well as listen to them on his phone as he
drives to work. He said he would do it. At the end we ended with a
pray, he asked me to say a prayer, I stood up but then felt like we
should kneel together. I asked if that would be appropriate and he
said that would be fine. I am sure that was the spirit. I don't really
know if it made a difference, or what but I feel as if I had followed
a prompting to make it a more meaningful experience for him and his
daughter. We will be keeping in touch with the family and hopefully
reading the scriptures may soften some hearts, as we feel that it may
not just be about work.
So that's about it for the week. I got some pictures ready to send to
you guys. Figured out some stuff with all the bugs and what not. I got
a picture of the letter that took a little while to get hear (the half
year one) I really enjoyed that letter. I will be sure to write you
guys so you to can enjoy them as well. Thanks for the wonderful
e-mails. It was great hearing about all the things that happened! I
love the pictures. The bowling alley one was good because I got to see
how much Eric and Madelyn have grown!... as well as Stuart.....
anyways I think I have probably grown a bit as well ....have to see
when I get back. Glad the Eagle Project worked out as well it looks
really good. Hope that it works out well. And Jelly looks like a
really cute bird. I think the name is perfect for him and I think its
unique but still very discriptive. I look forwards to meeting him when
I come home, when that happens when its suppose to not really happen.
So there is a picture of a pizza!, Guess what is on it? Kangaroo!
Tasted pretty good. But I can now say that I have eaten Kangaroo! It's
probably like beef or something like that it unique for sure. And you
got a picture of what Elder Rogers and I look like when we study,
thought that may a be a good picture. You also got a picture of Pak in
Save, where we shop to get groceries. Pretty much a supper market. And
then of course you got us Elders in a car. They are in our District.
Elders Christmas form Canadia, and Elder Hatch for Idaho. We where
driving to one tree hill because some Elders and Sisters haven\t had a
chance to go. Oh we lost the car as well so we are on bikes now! :D A
seniors couple needs it, so no more car:D
Do take care love you all I am doing very well!
-Love Elder Ward
August 10, 2014 - Mission Work Of Course
Well for this week I have to say some great things have happened. I
like the Advice you gave Dad. I think I will focus more on the
spiritual experences that I have rather than trying to give a summary
of the people that we have interacted with in the week. I think that
will be a much better way of helping you guys feel the spirit of
missionary work.
So once again I am pressed for time. I sppent a bit of time e-mailing
Stuart. Everyone can read his e-mail if they please I think that you
all will like it. SO for this week we did teach Howard and his partner
again. Howard is doing well. He is keeping the commitments. At the
lesson we taught him the plan of Salvation. Usually this lesson is a
bit hard for investigators to take in because it is so..... BIG and
grand I guess you could say. Growing up with it in my life I can
easily understand the wonderful Plan that our Father in Heaven laid
for us. He really liked, and he said that he would certainly think
about it. His one year old Daughter was also present for the lesson.
She is his pride and joy. Howard loves her so much and wants the best
for her. She was great to have in the lesson. We talked about how she,
was not to long ago, in the Pre-existance with our Father in Heaven.
She was a wonderful teaching tool needless to say. :D Her birthday
was coming up this Sunday, and Howard was looking forwards to
celebrating it with family and friends. So Elder Rogers and I think
that is why he is unable to come. We are going to be keeping in touch
with him to be sure.
So I think that I mentioned Ana last week. Elder Rogers and simply
found her by making sure that we talk with everyone that we can. We
had an opportunity to sit down with her on Friday. She had some funny
stories about running away form the missionaries when she was young.
She goes to the 7th day Adventist church. When she us walk up to her
she felt like it was a bit of a sign that she finely need to sit down
and have a chat with us. She had many questions for us. "What is the
Book of Mormon" "How do you guys view life after death?". Elder Rogers
and I wanted to teach everything to her at that moment however we
literally asked her, "Would you like to learn about the Plan of
Salvation, or the Book of Mormon?" she said the Plan of Salvation. We
taught her and she soaked it up like a sponge. At the end of the
lesson she said that has had learned more in one our about our father
in Heavens plan than in the 19 years that she had been going to the
7th day Adventist church. She felt like she had missed out on dodging
the missionaries back in the Islands and not listening or seeing what
they had had to share. I thought that was a pretty profound statement.
My goodness. But it makes sense. Within our church we encourage the
members to learn for themselves the gospel(callings), to read the
scriptures, and to use the study aids that the church has produced.
The members teach one another about the gospel so of course they are
all going to well familiar with it. When you compare it with there
church there is one man that teaches and only one that really studies
and understands. All the people do is come, listen, and go home. Not
much is learned. Anyways she seems very excited to learn more. We
invited her to come to church and to see what it was like, but she
didn't come for some reason :/ Most likely she got caught up in being
busy, but we are looking forwards to teaching her more.
I think that I mentioned Caroline a few times. She came to church! We
didn't see her. We only had Sacrament meeting because the building had
been painted recently and the building had some strong fumes in the
teaching rooms. She had to go take care of the family back at home so
she booked it at the end. The relief Society President got a chance to
s it next to her (Thats how we found out) so that worked out nicely
with the fellowship as well :) We should be having a lesson with her
at a members home this evening.
Oh and...... MOM HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I did remember before the 31st came,
however I forgot mention it in the e-mail! Sorry I didn't get on top
of it though. I do hope that you enjoyed. I didn't here if anything
great happened but I hope it was great!
And of course Eric. now 9 years old. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I want to thank
you for letting me baptize you. it was a real privilege and I am
grateful for the experience. I can always tell be people that I have
baptized someone because I had a wonderful opportunity to serve my
little Brother.
Sooo it has been 1 year since leaving the United States for all of us.
1 year since I went into the temple, and ya August 11th has a lot of
important dates attached to it!
I love you all I will be more prepared for e-mails next week. I loved
e-mails this week and hearing form you all! Please share all that is
happening! I love picks to. :) oh again, you can read stuarts e-mail.
That is pretty good.
-Love Elder Ward
like the Advice you gave Dad. I think I will focus more on the
spiritual experences that I have rather than trying to give a summary
of the people that we have interacted with in the week. I think that
will be a much better way of helping you guys feel the spirit of
missionary work.
So once again I am pressed for time. I sppent a bit of time e-mailing
Stuart. Everyone can read his e-mail if they please I think that you
all will like it. SO for this week we did teach Howard and his partner
again. Howard is doing well. He is keeping the commitments. At the
lesson we taught him the plan of Salvation. Usually this lesson is a
bit hard for investigators to take in because it is so..... BIG and
grand I guess you could say. Growing up with it in my life I can
easily understand the wonderful Plan that our Father in Heaven laid
for us. He really liked, and he said that he would certainly think
about it. His one year old Daughter was also present for the lesson.
She is his pride and joy. Howard loves her so much and wants the best
for her. She was great to have in the lesson. We talked about how she,
was not to long ago, in the Pre-existance with our Father in Heaven.
She was a wonderful teaching tool needless to say. :D Her birthday
was coming up this Sunday, and Howard was looking forwards to
celebrating it with family and friends. So Elder Rogers and I think
that is why he is unable to come. We are going to be keeping in touch
with him to be sure.
So I think that I mentioned Ana last week. Elder Rogers and simply
found her by making sure that we talk with everyone that we can. We
had an opportunity to sit down with her on Friday. She had some funny
stories about running away form the missionaries when she was young.
She goes to the 7th day Adventist church. When she us walk up to her
she felt like it was a bit of a sign that she finely need to sit down
and have a chat with us. She had many questions for us. "What is the
Book of Mormon" "How do you guys view life after death?". Elder Rogers
and I wanted to teach everything to her at that moment however we
literally asked her, "Would you like to learn about the Plan of
Salvation, or the Book of Mormon?" she said the Plan of Salvation. We
taught her and she soaked it up like a sponge. At the end of the
lesson she said that has had learned more in one our about our father
in Heavens plan than in the 19 years that she had been going to the
7th day Adventist church. She felt like she had missed out on dodging
the missionaries back in the Islands and not listening or seeing what
they had had to share. I thought that was a pretty profound statement.
My goodness. But it makes sense. Within our church we encourage the
members to learn for themselves the gospel(callings), to read the
scriptures, and to use the study aids that the church has produced.
The members teach one another about the gospel so of course they are
all going to well familiar with it. When you compare it with there
church there is one man that teaches and only one that really studies
and understands. All the people do is come, listen, and go home. Not
much is learned. Anyways she seems very excited to learn more. We
invited her to come to church and to see what it was like, but she
didn't come for some reason :/ Most likely she got caught up in being
busy, but we are looking forwards to teaching her more.
I think that I mentioned Caroline a few times. She came to church! We
didn't see her. We only had Sacrament meeting because the building had
been painted recently and the building had some strong fumes in the
teaching rooms. She had to go take care of the family back at home so
she booked it at the end. The relief Society President got a chance to
s it next to her (Thats how we found out) so that worked out nicely
with the fellowship as well :) We should be having a lesson with her
at a members home this evening.
Oh and...... MOM HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I did remember before the 31st came,
however I forgot mention it in the e-mail! Sorry I didn't get on top
of it though. I do hope that you enjoyed. I didn't here if anything
great happened but I hope it was great!
And of course Eric. now 9 years old. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I want to thank
you for letting me baptize you. it was a real privilege and I am
grateful for the experience. I can always tell be people that I have
baptized someone because I had a wonderful opportunity to serve my
little Brother.
Sooo it has been 1 year since leaving the United States for all of us.
1 year since I went into the temple, and ya August 11th has a lot of
important dates attached to it!
I love you all I will be more prepared for e-mails next week. I loved
e-mails this week and hearing form you all! Please share all that is
happening! I love picks to. :) oh again, you can read stuarts e-mail.
That is pretty good.
-Love Elder Ward
August 3, 2014 - Miracles and More...
So I am still in the Mt. Albert Area. I was a bit bummed. I was
looking forwards to seeing more of New Zealand. However I have no room
to complain when Elder Rogers will have been in this area for 6
months! That is not what missionary work is about however. It is not
about seeing the sites up North that the Missionaries talk about. I am
glad that I get to stay, we have some wonderful people to work with.
It does get a bit old seeing the same area over and over again. It is
tough though, we have seen everyone in the area book, and we have gone
through the Ward list. It feels as if we know just about everyone that
lives here in the Mt. Albert area at times! What do we do? Well we
look for the elect, those who are ready, find new people, talk with
everyone on the streets and continue to help those that we have talked
with in the past! That simple. I consider this area like a refining
area. Now is when we need to really on exact obedience and the spirit
to accomplish what the Lords wants us to get done in the Mt Albert
area.
Howard, we had a lesson with him last Monday in the evening after our
P-day. It was so cool. We sat down with him and started talking more
about church. He has all ready attended once, and this is our first
time that we have had to sit and teach him. We started off with first
talking about how his weeks have been. Howard explained that he had
been feeling great inside ever since he went to church. He felt good
inside, happy, and that things just seemed to go better. He said he
felt better at work and that a miracles happened at work so he could
continue to support his daughter. Elder Rogers and I taught him that
this feeling was the holy Ghost helping him know that this Gospel will
be what brings him joy in this life and the life to come. He asked us
"What is your end goal for me?" That is not a question that we here to
often as missionaries. It is probably the first time that I have heard
it on my mission! We didn't hold back anything, we explained to him
that we wanted him to prepare to be baptized and make a covenant with
God, so that he may return to live with him. Then we talked a bit
about the temples and how we can be sealed for all time and eternity.
We got all the cats out of the bag, he wanted to know about the word
of wisdom, we explained a bit about that to help him understand
better, we talked about the law of Chasity, and the arrangements he is
going to have to make with his partner so he can be baptized (they
must be married). We then taught him of the restoration (he had
actually been watching the Restoration DVD fell a sleep though part
way through it he said) he loved it and committed him to read from the
Book of Mormon of course. He unfortunately didn't make it to church
this Sunday. His father was in the hospital, however we are going to
be teaching him again later today. It really is a privilege to teach
him, and I do pray that we can teach him with the spirit always and
help come closer to his Father in Heaven. Certainly a miracle on the
mission!
FA is doing well. He is still working on the word of wisdom and is
planning for a baptism on the 23 of August. We still have to work out
details on his baptism. He came to church yesterday and we talked
about how he gain additional strength to resist the temptations he has
to face daily.
We also met another Lady named Tally. She is a wonderful Samoan woman
that has 3 children 12, 7, and about 3. Elder Rogers actually spoke
with her on the street and she expressed a desire to learn a bit about
our church. She is very humble, and very teachable, Her husband Otto
is not to keen. They actually have a bit of a strained relationship at
the moment. They often disagree on many things, but that is what the
gospel is here to to do! Unite Families and bless them. There children
are wonderful they actually sing the hymns when we start with a song,
they are very kind and loving. We have referred them to the Samoan
Sister because we think that they may be able to communicate better
with Tally. We will be following up though.
Caroline unfortunately didn't make it to church this week. We are
still working with her. She is very busy with family and what not.
Kylee unfortunately is no longer progressing. She has really lost her
swing. We had a ride set up for her to come to church and everything
however, she flaked on us and said that she needed to go to work. She
has been having a tough time lately. We as missionaries will continue
to help her though and extend that arm out to her.
We have many other keen investigators that want to be taught. It is
amazing the potential the area has. We have 2 who are potential
Baptisms as well. I think I have mentioned them in Previous e-mails
home. Tarea and Lee. They are very interested, however, they are very
busy, well Lee is actually quite sick, and Tarea has her hands full
with a new born child! We will be keeping tabs on her.
Sorry the e-mail wasn't to long. I wish I could just strap a camera to
my fore head and then you guys could watch everything that happens.
Seriously, I can't even get all that I would like into my journal. but
thanks for your e-mails Eric and Madelyn glad things are going well
for you.
Thanks for the package as well, I do look forwards to it. I still have
one of the hickory farms. I meant to eat it when my 1/4 mark came but
I forgot to. I think I will soon though. Got to make room for more to
come :D haha. I will look into sending some letters home. I have
actually bought some stamps for letters I just haven't been able to
write any. I need to though, I will look into maybe sending some
souvenirs as well, kinda like the chocolate. Maybe something that will
last a bit longer rather than chocolate.
Love you all I am doing well,
Love,
Elder Ward
looking forwards to seeing more of New Zealand. However I have no room
to complain when Elder Rogers will have been in this area for 6
months! That is not what missionary work is about however. It is not
about seeing the sites up North that the Missionaries talk about. I am
glad that I get to stay, we have some wonderful people to work with.
It does get a bit old seeing the same area over and over again. It is
tough though, we have seen everyone in the area book, and we have gone
through the Ward list. It feels as if we know just about everyone that
lives here in the Mt. Albert area at times! What do we do? Well we
look for the elect, those who are ready, find new people, talk with
everyone on the streets and continue to help those that we have talked
with in the past! That simple. I consider this area like a refining
area. Now is when we need to really on exact obedience and the spirit
to accomplish what the Lords wants us to get done in the Mt Albert
area.
Howard, we had a lesson with him last Monday in the evening after our
P-day. It was so cool. We sat down with him and started talking more
about church. He has all ready attended once, and this is our first
time that we have had to sit and teach him. We started off with first
talking about how his weeks have been. Howard explained that he had
been feeling great inside ever since he went to church. He felt good
inside, happy, and that things just seemed to go better. He said he
felt better at work and that a miracles happened at work so he could
continue to support his daughter. Elder Rogers and I taught him that
this feeling was the holy Ghost helping him know that this Gospel will
be what brings him joy in this life and the life to come. He asked us
"What is your end goal for me?" That is not a question that we here to
often as missionaries. It is probably the first time that I have heard
it on my mission! We didn't hold back anything, we explained to him
that we wanted him to prepare to be baptized and make a covenant with
God, so that he may return to live with him. Then we talked a bit
about the temples and how we can be sealed for all time and eternity.
We got all the cats out of the bag, he wanted to know about the word
of wisdom, we explained a bit about that to help him understand
better, we talked about the law of Chasity, and the arrangements he is
going to have to make with his partner so he can be baptized (they
must be married). We then taught him of the restoration (he had
actually been watching the Restoration DVD fell a sleep though part
way through it he said) he loved it and committed him to read from the
Book of Mormon of course. He unfortunately didn't make it to church
this Sunday. His father was in the hospital, however we are going to
be teaching him again later today. It really is a privilege to teach
him, and I do pray that we can teach him with the spirit always and
help come closer to his Father in Heaven. Certainly a miracle on the
mission!
FA is doing well. He is still working on the word of wisdom and is
planning for a baptism on the 23 of August. We still have to work out
details on his baptism. He came to church yesterday and we talked
about how he gain additional strength to resist the temptations he has
to face daily.
We also met another Lady named Tally. She is a wonderful Samoan woman
that has 3 children 12, 7, and about 3. Elder Rogers actually spoke
with her on the street and she expressed a desire to learn a bit about
our church. She is very humble, and very teachable, Her husband Otto
is not to keen. They actually have a bit of a strained relationship at
the moment. They often disagree on many things, but that is what the
gospel is here to to do! Unite Families and bless them. There children
are wonderful they actually sing the hymns when we start with a song,
they are very kind and loving. We have referred them to the Samoan
Sister because we think that they may be able to communicate better
with Tally. We will be following up though.
Caroline unfortunately didn't make it to church this week. We are
still working with her. She is very busy with family and what not.
Kylee unfortunately is no longer progressing. She has really lost her
swing. We had a ride set up for her to come to church and everything
however, she flaked on us and said that she needed to go to work. She
has been having a tough time lately. We as missionaries will continue
to help her though and extend that arm out to her.
We have many other keen investigators that want to be taught. It is
amazing the potential the area has. We have 2 who are potential
Baptisms as well. I think I have mentioned them in Previous e-mails
home. Tarea and Lee. They are very interested, however, they are very
busy, well Lee is actually quite sick, and Tarea has her hands full
with a new born child! We will be keeping tabs on her.
Sorry the e-mail wasn't to long. I wish I could just strap a camera to
my fore head and then you guys could watch everything that happens.
Seriously, I can't even get all that I would like into my journal. but
thanks for your e-mails Eric and Madelyn glad things are going well
for you.
Thanks for the package as well, I do look forwards to it. I still have
one of the hickory farms. I meant to eat it when my 1/4 mark came but
I forgot to. I think I will soon though. Got to make room for more to
come :D haha. I will look into sending some letters home. I have
actually bought some stamps for letters I just haven't been able to
write any. I need to though, I will look into maybe sending some
souvenirs as well, kinda like the chocolate. Maybe something that will
last a bit longer rather than chocolate.
Love you all I am doing well,
Love,
Elder Ward
July 27, 2014 - Some Good Things For Sure!
I have to say this week was pretty good. We got off on a good foot
this week and had some good lessons. We had some good finding
experiences as well. Elder Rogers and I were very diligent with
talking to all that we could. One miracle we had was coming in contact
with a lady named Vai that wanted to be baptized when she was a young
girl. However her Family was staunch Catholic and would not let her.
She was attending seminary with her cousins and really got that fire
inside of her. She told us that she was pretty devastated. But now she
is older and still likes to wave to the missionaries and say hello.
Just before we met Elder Rogers and I where walking along the side
walk and heard a horn toot and a "Hello Elders!" as she pulled into
her drive way. We quickly resolved that we needed to go see her
because as far as we knew she was not a member and we knew nor and
investigator. We walked down the long driveway to see how she was
doing (*here in central Auckland they build houses on what was be
older houses back yard, then pave a long driveway around the front
house. Sometimes there are 3 houses behind one house), she was a bit
surprised that we followed her down and was we started a quick
discussion with her and got to know her. She asked if she could have a
Book of Mormon and we gladly got her one and then talked about future
visits. She was happy to have us come back and wanted to get into it
again. We are looking forwards to it for sure!
Fa is doing well, we have taught him a bit more about tithing,
fasting, and the commandments. He really loves the lessons that we
teach and enjoys learning about the gospel. We are still working out
the details for his baptism. He doesn't live in our area, so other
Elders are really suppose to be baptizing him, but we will see. Once
he comes to church again(he has heaps of work), and is completely good
with the Word of Wisdom he can be baptized! He is excited and the
Tuau'ho Family is doing a wonderful job of fellow shipping him.
We taught a Lady named Caroline this week. She has been faithful with
coming to the Chapel for lessons. She is interested in learning,
however we don't really know if she is seeking to be baptized really.
We taught her the restoration, and she seemed to really like it. It is
one of the most important lessons that we can teach as missionaries.
It really helps the investigators with understanding how important the
Book of Mormon is to knowing if Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. She
certainly wants to learn more. We gave her a chapel tour the week
before and she really enjoyed that. First time that I have been able
to give one on the mission. But we are working towards her
understanding why it would be important to be baptized. She is a great
learner though we love to teach her!
So Howard.. It has been tough getting in touch with him. Yesterday
after church we decided that we would go visit with him and see if he
was home. He came to the door and asked "I was wondering when you guys
where" We explained we where busy and we sent a text to his
partner(who is less active), and he just wasn't home. But he is still
very keen to learn. He said that he went out and purchased some dress
pants even for church! I was a bit shocked, so was Elder Rogers, but
we set up a time to see him today, and at a members home. He is good
friends with a young man named Lenny, a member of the church. Howard
grew up with with in school so they are good mates. We had dinner at
Lenny Tonga's home right after we met with Howard, and Lenny actually
saw him at a mates party not to long ago. Howard was telling Lenny all
about how he felt after going to church and how he feels around Lenny,
and how things have been just going really good with life and just
feeling really great inside. The spirit must be working with him a
lot! He is doing awesome. Such a privileged to witness such amazing
miracles.
This week we had several Less-Actives come back to church. Sister
Poloie, Sister Hoskins, and Sister and Brother Clayton. Elder Rogers
and I have been visiting them consistently for much of the transfer.
Always uplifting them and teaching there families. There was a bit of
a buzz in he Ward about it. We didn't have any investigators attend
though so that was a bit of a bummer. but still though baptized or not
baptized, a soul's worth is great in the eyes of God!There is so much
that happens in the week, there really isn't enough time to write
about everything that happens!
Transfers is this week and we don't know whats going to happen till
Wednesday. Elder Rogers and I have done really well with helping one
another improve as missionaries. Everything form being Exactly
Obedient to teaching people with the spirit. We have been able to turn
from not having very many investigators in the Mt. Albert area to
expanding the teaching pool quite a bit! It has been a faith building
experience. I am loving the mission. I can't really see myself coming
home... Don't like to think about it to much. Doesn't really feel like
the mission is going to end. I have lots to look forwards to though!
and do want to see my family again of course. Don't want you guys to
take it the wrong way!
Glad Stuarts Eagle project is getting closer to being finished and
completed. It is a bit unfortunate that it was a bit rough. Hopefully
things turn out real well and there will be much to look back on that
will be positive!
Sorry about there being not pictures... My USB's are still bugged. I
think I am going to have to take it to a member to get worked out
during lunch or something. Pictures will come!
Take care love you all back at home. Tell Grandpa I love him. I
haven't been writing him because, well I don't have an address that I
know I can get him at. If you guys could work that out that would be
awesome.
Love,
Elder Ward
this week and had some good lessons. We had some good finding
experiences as well. Elder Rogers and I were very diligent with
talking to all that we could. One miracle we had was coming in contact
with a lady named Vai that wanted to be baptized when she was a young
girl. However her Family was staunch Catholic and would not let her.
She was attending seminary with her cousins and really got that fire
inside of her. She told us that she was pretty devastated. But now she
is older and still likes to wave to the missionaries and say hello.
Just before we met Elder Rogers and I where walking along the side
walk and heard a horn toot and a "Hello Elders!" as she pulled into
her drive way. We quickly resolved that we needed to go see her
because as far as we knew she was not a member and we knew nor and
investigator. We walked down the long driveway to see how she was
doing (*here in central Auckland they build houses on what was be
older houses back yard, then pave a long driveway around the front
house. Sometimes there are 3 houses behind one house), she was a bit
surprised that we followed her down and was we started a quick
discussion with her and got to know her. She asked if she could have a
Book of Mormon and we gladly got her one and then talked about future
visits. She was happy to have us come back and wanted to get into it
again. We are looking forwards to it for sure!
Fa is doing well, we have taught him a bit more about tithing,
fasting, and the commandments. He really loves the lessons that we
teach and enjoys learning about the gospel. We are still working out
the details for his baptism. He doesn't live in our area, so other
Elders are really suppose to be baptizing him, but we will see. Once
he comes to church again(he has heaps of work), and is completely good
with the Word of Wisdom he can be baptized! He is excited and the
Tuau'ho Family is doing a wonderful job of fellow shipping him.
We taught a Lady named Caroline this week. She has been faithful with
coming to the Chapel for lessons. She is interested in learning,
however we don't really know if she is seeking to be baptized really.
We taught her the restoration, and she seemed to really like it. It is
one of the most important lessons that we can teach as missionaries.
It really helps the investigators with understanding how important the
Book of Mormon is to knowing if Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. She
certainly wants to learn more. We gave her a chapel tour the week
before and she really enjoyed that. First time that I have been able
to give one on the mission. But we are working towards her
understanding why it would be important to be baptized. She is a great
learner though we love to teach her!
So Howard.. It has been tough getting in touch with him. Yesterday
after church we decided that we would go visit with him and see if he
was home. He came to the door and asked "I was wondering when you guys
where" We explained we where busy and we sent a text to his
partner(who is less active), and he just wasn't home. But he is still
very keen to learn. He said that he went out and purchased some dress
pants even for church! I was a bit shocked, so was Elder Rogers, but
we set up a time to see him today, and at a members home. He is good
friends with a young man named Lenny, a member of the church. Howard
grew up with with in school so they are good mates. We had dinner at
Lenny Tonga's home right after we met with Howard, and Lenny actually
saw him at a mates party not to long ago. Howard was telling Lenny all
about how he felt after going to church and how he feels around Lenny,
and how things have been just going really good with life and just
feeling really great inside. The spirit must be working with him a
lot! He is doing awesome. Such a privileged to witness such amazing
miracles.
This week we had several Less-Actives come back to church. Sister
Poloie, Sister Hoskins, and Sister and Brother Clayton. Elder Rogers
and I have been visiting them consistently for much of the transfer.
Always uplifting them and teaching there families. There was a bit of
a buzz in he Ward about it. We didn't have any investigators attend
though so that was a bit of a bummer. but still though baptized or not
baptized, a soul's worth is great in the eyes of God!There is so much
that happens in the week, there really isn't enough time to write
about everything that happens!
Transfers is this week and we don't know whats going to happen till
Wednesday. Elder Rogers and I have done really well with helping one
another improve as missionaries. Everything form being Exactly
Obedient to teaching people with the spirit. We have been able to turn
from not having very many investigators in the Mt. Albert area to
expanding the teaching pool quite a bit! It has been a faith building
experience. I am loving the mission. I can't really see myself coming
home... Don't like to think about it to much. Doesn't really feel like
the mission is going to end. I have lots to look forwards to though!
and do want to see my family again of course. Don't want you guys to
take it the wrong way!
Glad Stuarts Eagle project is getting closer to being finished and
completed. It is a bit unfortunate that it was a bit rough. Hopefully
things turn out real well and there will be much to look back on that
will be positive!
Sorry about there being not pictures... My USB's are still bugged. I
think I am going to have to take it to a member to get worked out
during lunch or something. Pictures will come!
Take care love you all back at home. Tell Grandpa I love him. I
haven't been writing him because, well I don't have an address that I
know I can get him at. If you guys could work that out that would be
awesome.
Love,
Elder Ward
Sunday, July 27, 2014
July 20, 2014
The weeks in the mission are going by quick I must say. Certainly
trying to make the best them. This week was a bit tough. Many of our
investigators such as Denny, Veronica, and Kylee have kind of faded a
little bit.
I remember telling you guys about Denny. He is very Keen to learn
however he isn't consistent with his appointments and with coming to
church. We call, we text, he doesn't seem to respond. Veronica still
seems interested. She has asked us to come back at the beginning of
August... Not to sure how to take that but apparently she is very busy
and the family that is currently staying with them will be gone by
then. I don't know if I will be around by then because transfers are
not coming this week, but next, and you never know where the Lord is
going to send you. I am kind of hoping I get to go up North.
Apparently there is more scenery, I have spent my whole mission so far
in the suburbs that are close to the City. However going up North
means less people, and then I will probably want to go back to the
city where there are lots of people to talk to. We will continue to
try and teach her. Kylee still seems interested in learning, I think
we are going to ease off on the visits a bit, to make them a bit more
appreciated, even when she isn't home and we bump into family and
friends at the door, and that can be a bit repetitive at times. None
the less we will be getting her to church some time soon! Howard has
been difficult to communicate with. We came Sunday morning to invite
him to church, only got to spoke with his mother who is a less active,
or inactive I guess you could say. She didn't seem interested, and
wasn't to keen on talking with us. So none the less what I like to say
is "you haven't seen them until you finally talk to them."
We did make contact with Lee. I think I mentioned her in one of the
first e-mails I sent home when I came on my mission. She has been
difficult to keep in touch with her. We finally saw her and she still
is keen on learning more. The difficultly has been communication with
her. She can only text, and we didn't have cell phones so we couldn't
do that. but now it is very easy to keep in touch and we have a lesson
planned out for tomorrow. Should be awesome! So there is a miracle
their for sure!
Fa came to church this Sunday! Very exciting he is doing great and he
is the most motivated person I have seen, and taught. He was able to
have a co-worker fill in for him Sunday so he could come to church
without having to pull a sickie. He enjoyed it for sure, and stayed
for all 3 hours. We taught him a lesson on fasting because it is
something that he could use to help him fix the Wow issue. The Chinese
Elders where there as well translating what we taught to a home stay
that the members invited and brought to church. So that was a bit
different but yet cool. Fa is doing so well because of that fellowship
he has from the Tuah'ho family. They care for him, and pretty much do
most of the work for us! They are always bearing their testimonies,
and encouraging him to stay strong. Wish that I could send pictures of
all the people that we taught so it could be a bit more than just
words, but certainly will take a picture of the Baptism. The only
concern there is that Fa doesn't live in our designated Proselyting
area. So the Zone Leaders explained that he may need to get baptized
in his area or talk with the missionaries there. So we will have to
see what happens. But when he attends church for the 3rd time and
makes that commitment to attend church as often as he can, and aligns
himself with the word of wisdom, he will be ready to make that first
promise. We are excited for Fa. Truly a privilege to teach him and be
there to support him.
Went on a trade off this week. I was with Elder Loffahagen form the
UK. We had an Opportunity to serve a Croatian Catholic Senior man. We
where walking on the side walk and saw him messing with and engine
lift jack. We asked if we could help with anything, and it turns out
he need help lifting his TV on top of a taller stand so he would have
to put so many pillows under his head. He was going to take apart the
jack so he could take it up stairs and use it because he could not
lift up there himself. He was very grateful, he praised Jesus a little
bit, continued to talk up a storm about us helping him. We couldn't
share much but we did leave him with a Book of Mormon, probably not to
keen however there may be miracles down the line! He was a real cool
guy. had been living in New Zealand for 40 years. Has been a mechanic,
and some really cool things in his garage, like a fully auto-matic
home built go cart. I snapped a quick pic, and we then had to go. Real
great guy.
So in the meeting with President and Sister Balli while interviews
where happening we got some news about the purpose of a missionary
changing a little bit. There are 5 Lessons that we teach our
investigators. Before the change we taught the first 4 lessons, The
Restoration, The Plan of Salvation, The Gospel of Christ, and the
Commandments. After Baptism we teach Lesson 5, Laws and Ordinances.
That talks about the Temples, Church Organization, Eternal Marriage,
Missionary Work, and also teaching in the Church. We now teach lesson
5 before baptism so that way the investigators have a vision of what
is to come in the future with being a member of the Church. I think
that it is a fantastic change and that it will certainly help out with
convert retention. We are now working out how we will teach these
things in the First 4 lessons. For example what could we include in
the Restoration. Or maybe the Plan of Salvation we could talk a bit
about the temples and how they work into it. Also generally after
missionaries teach the investigators, they then hand them over to the
Ward to take care of them and continue to teach. Missionaries now have
a stronger focus on bringing Less Actives back and also retaining the
recent converts. Anyways all very cool and exciting. This is a change
for all missionaries in the World. Now we just got to find people to
teach. Because if I am honest, I have not taught very many keen people
on my mission, all though New Zealand is very religious, the adversary
does have a strong grip on them. They are often quite stuck in their
ways and aren't to keen on learning. Nothing Happens in Missionary
work until you find someone to teach!
So personally I am doing fine. All of my physical needs are well taken
care of. Elder Rogers and I have had KFC this week 2 times this
week.... They really do love their KFC here, however since getting the
car I have tried to mindful about not stuffing my self with food, and
drinking more water and less juice. It rains heaps here. Just about
every day. you certainly learn the meaning of "good" and "bad weather"
here in New Zealand. None the less I do still like the rain. I am
starting to study other things in the scriptures. Like sotries from
the Old Testament, and New of Course. I am reading through D&C and NT.
I have tried waking up early however that doesn't work to well. You
are often tired the rest of the day, and also your companion needs to
wake up as well. rulz. But my studies are going good. Scriptures are
great to know inside and out. Oh, and Stuart needs to be reading the
BoM, because that is very important! He is preparing to go and I don't
want him to leave with out getting some good advice and understanding,
and that is one of the best things that he can do. All right so I hope
things go well with the Eagle Project of Course. Work hard and get it
done! Hope you guys are doing well and I appreciate your letters!
-Love Elder Ward
trying to make the best them. This week was a bit tough. Many of our
investigators such as Denny, Veronica, and Kylee have kind of faded a
little bit.
I remember telling you guys about Denny. He is very Keen to learn
however he isn't consistent with his appointments and with coming to
church. We call, we text, he doesn't seem to respond. Veronica still
seems interested. She has asked us to come back at the beginning of
August... Not to sure how to take that but apparently she is very busy
and the family that is currently staying with them will be gone by
then. I don't know if I will be around by then because transfers are
not coming this week, but next, and you never know where the Lord is
going to send you. I am kind of hoping I get to go up North.
Apparently there is more scenery, I have spent my whole mission so far
in the suburbs that are close to the City. However going up North
means less people, and then I will probably want to go back to the
city where there are lots of people to talk to. We will continue to
try and teach her. Kylee still seems interested in learning, I think
we are going to ease off on the visits a bit, to make them a bit more
appreciated, even when she isn't home and we bump into family and
friends at the door, and that can be a bit repetitive at times. None
the less we will be getting her to church some time soon! Howard has
been difficult to communicate with. We came Sunday morning to invite
him to church, only got to spoke with his mother who is a less active,
or inactive I guess you could say. She didn't seem interested, and
wasn't to keen on talking with us. So none the less what I like to say
is "you haven't seen them until you finally talk to them."
We did make contact with Lee. I think I mentioned her in one of the
first e-mails I sent home when I came on my mission. She has been
difficult to keep in touch with her. We finally saw her and she still
is keen on learning more. The difficultly has been communication with
her. She can only text, and we didn't have cell phones so we couldn't
do that. but now it is very easy to keep in touch and we have a lesson
planned out for tomorrow. Should be awesome! So there is a miracle
their for sure!
Fa came to church this Sunday! Very exciting he is doing great and he
is the most motivated person I have seen, and taught. He was able to
have a co-worker fill in for him Sunday so he could come to church
without having to pull a sickie. He enjoyed it for sure, and stayed
for all 3 hours. We taught him a lesson on fasting because it is
something that he could use to help him fix the Wow issue. The Chinese
Elders where there as well translating what we taught to a home stay
that the members invited and brought to church. So that was a bit
different but yet cool. Fa is doing so well because of that fellowship
he has from the Tuah'ho family. They care for him, and pretty much do
most of the work for us! They are always bearing their testimonies,
and encouraging him to stay strong. Wish that I could send pictures of
all the people that we taught so it could be a bit more than just
words, but certainly will take a picture of the Baptism. The only
concern there is that Fa doesn't live in our designated Proselyting
area. So the Zone Leaders explained that he may need to get baptized
in his area or talk with the missionaries there. So we will have to
see what happens. But when he attends church for the 3rd time and
makes that commitment to attend church as often as he can, and aligns
himself with the word of wisdom, he will be ready to make that first
promise. We are excited for Fa. Truly a privilege to teach him and be
there to support him.
Went on a trade off this week. I was with Elder Loffahagen form the
UK. We had an Opportunity to serve a Croatian Catholic Senior man. We
where walking on the side walk and saw him messing with and engine
lift jack. We asked if we could help with anything, and it turns out
he need help lifting his TV on top of a taller stand so he would have
to put so many pillows under his head. He was going to take apart the
jack so he could take it up stairs and use it because he could not
lift up there himself. He was very grateful, he praised Jesus a little
bit, continued to talk up a storm about us helping him. We couldn't
share much but we did leave him with a Book of Mormon, probably not to
keen however there may be miracles down the line! He was a real cool
guy. had been living in New Zealand for 40 years. Has been a mechanic,
and some really cool things in his garage, like a fully auto-matic
home built go cart. I snapped a quick pic, and we then had to go. Real
great guy.
So in the meeting with President and Sister Balli while interviews
where happening we got some news about the purpose of a missionary
changing a little bit. There are 5 Lessons that we teach our
investigators. Before the change we taught the first 4 lessons, The
Restoration, The Plan of Salvation, The Gospel of Christ, and the
Commandments. After Baptism we teach Lesson 5, Laws and Ordinances.
That talks about the Temples, Church Organization, Eternal Marriage,
Missionary Work, and also teaching in the Church. We now teach lesson
5 before baptism so that way the investigators have a vision of what
is to come in the future with being a member of the Church. I think
that it is a fantastic change and that it will certainly help out with
convert retention. We are now working out how we will teach these
things in the First 4 lessons. For example what could we include in
the Restoration. Or maybe the Plan of Salvation we could talk a bit
about the temples and how they work into it. Also generally after
missionaries teach the investigators, they then hand them over to the
Ward to take care of them and continue to teach. Missionaries now have
a stronger focus on bringing Less Actives back and also retaining the
recent converts. Anyways all very cool and exciting. This is a change
for all missionaries in the World. Now we just got to find people to
teach. Because if I am honest, I have not taught very many keen people
on my mission, all though New Zealand is very religious, the adversary
does have a strong grip on them. They are often quite stuck in their
ways and aren't to keen on learning. Nothing Happens in Missionary
work until you find someone to teach!
So personally I am doing fine. All of my physical needs are well taken
care of. Elder Rogers and I have had KFC this week 2 times this
week.... They really do love their KFC here, however since getting the
car I have tried to mindful about not stuffing my self with food, and
drinking more water and less juice. It rains heaps here. Just about
every day. you certainly learn the meaning of "good" and "bad weather"
here in New Zealand. None the less I do still like the rain. I am
starting to study other things in the scriptures. Like sotries from
the Old Testament, and New of Course. I am reading through D&C and NT.
I have tried waking up early however that doesn't work to well. You
are often tired the rest of the day, and also your companion needs to
wake up as well. rulz. But my studies are going good. Scriptures are
great to know inside and out. Oh, and Stuart needs to be reading the
BoM, because that is very important! He is preparing to go and I don't
want him to leave with out getting some good advice and understanding,
and that is one of the best things that he can do. All right so I hope
things go well with the Eagle Project of Course. Work hard and get it
done! Hope you guys are doing well and I appreciate your letters!
-Love Elder Ward
July 13, 2014
Well it is great to hear from you guys and everyone back at home. Glad
to hear a bit about Stuarts trip and..... of course the one to
Switzerland. My goodness, my jaw dropped and man was I jealous....
That must have been a beautiful experience and a blast... Especially
those little coasters. Great to hear that the Eagle Project is
rolling, hope that gets taken care of because it's important. Also
Stuart remember to read the BoM. Seriously it is the best thing you
can do for your mission is getting familiar with it, give a good
study, before you know it the Book will be easy to read and
understand, and you will WANT to read it. Your testimony will grow
immensely as well. Also PMG is important as well make sure you go over
that to.
This week was as is every week in the mission field. We have had some
good things happen and some bad things of course. Starting with Kylee,
she unfortunately is no longer set. She seems to have lost her
motivation to learn as much as she wanted to last time and also with
coming to church. We had talked with some members and all ready
arranged a ride for her with us tagging along as well. We popped by
before church and she explained to us that she didn't feel like going.
Partly because she was very busy with family obligations and what not
but still she is lacking that motivation. We will still try next week
for sure. But that will mean about 3 weeks of trying to get her to
come to church. Her motivation with learning has kind of slackened was
well. Elder Rogers and I aren't to sure whats up. We think that it
could be the lack of felling the spirit in the lessons. Minding that
we haven't been able to sit down with her and have a member with us
since we first set her for baptism. We will be continuing to work with
her on that this week.
Fa is doing amazing. He has lots of member support so of course he is
doing fantastic. He was suppose to come to church this week. He
actually had a co-worker come up to and offer to take his place on
Sundays, however he chickened out at the last minute so Fa had to go
to work. He called us during our study time and apologized and
everything, we just reassured him that it is all ok and that things do
happen. Next week for sure. We met up with the Tuah'ho family that
evening and his girl friend explained to us how sad and disappointed
he was, Elder Rogers and I could certainly hear it on the phone. We
will be having another lesson with him this coming Thursday so it
should be awesome. The only other thing that could be challenging him
is the Word of Wisdom, he is trying hard with cutting the smokes,
coffee, and what not. We always encourage him to pray for strength and
look for things to keep him busy so he doesn't fall for the
temptation. I hope I get to see him baptized. There could be a chance
that I may get moved out before he is finally able to. Fa is doing
well though for sure.
Elder Rogers and I have found a few new people this week that have
invited us to come visit them. We have got to be careful, because
sometimes people don't really want to learn and simply invited us over
to get to know us, learn where we are from and don't real express an
honest desire to learn. There are only 2 things that we can do in a
situation like that. Either no longer visit them, or try to build
their desire. There is only so much you can do to build peoples
desires to learn about the gospel. Ultimately it comes down to them
planting that seed of faith and looking to see if it is a good seed.
They have to use there agency, we can't force them. If they can't do
that for us then they don't progress :/ Oh on an interesting note we
met someone who was a follower of John the Baptist :S I never seen
that, but will be likely returning to see how they feel about the BoM,
we just got to know them for a short time.
We have a few other people that we are trying to get progressing. If
you guys remember Howard form last week, well he didn't come to church
this week. So that was a bit of a bummer. We try to visit him at times
however working 16 hour shifts can make it very difficult to see
people. We tried popping in to see him before church but he
unfortunately wasn't home. We will keep trying, miracles do happen
just as they have happened in the past, and the adversary will try to
combat you! The best thing to do is keep a positive attitude no matter
what happens. That is a major key to missionary work.
Oh I got to meet President Balli this week! He is fantastic and a
wonderful president. We got to have interviews with him and also get
know a bit about them and their family. They are from Colorado in the
US. I think they may need to figure out the controls, but once they do
it will be full steam ahead! Nothing has really changed much other
than having a cell phone now. It has been a wonderful tool for
communicating with members, investigators and leaders.
I don't got much time, P-days are really just to short. But none the
less they are great! Glad to see that every one is doing ok back at
home. It is very cool having all my friends leaving on their missions,
I can't imagine what it will be like to come back and get together
again! The puppet show must have been fun! The sword fights are
intense even in a puppet show haha. We better have some good things
planned to go see as a family when I get back, I think you guys might
be having to much fun. haha it is all good though. Sorry for no picks
this week, my usb gots a virus so I am still trying to work that out.
Love you all take care,
-Elder Ward
to hear a bit about Stuarts trip and..... of course the one to
Switzerland. My goodness, my jaw dropped and man was I jealous....
That must have been a beautiful experience and a blast... Especially
those little coasters. Great to hear that the Eagle Project is
rolling, hope that gets taken care of because it's important. Also
Stuart remember to read the BoM. Seriously it is the best thing you
can do for your mission is getting familiar with it, give a good
study, before you know it the Book will be easy to read and
understand, and you will WANT to read it. Your testimony will grow
immensely as well. Also PMG is important as well make sure you go over
that to.
This week was as is every week in the mission field. We have had some
good things happen and some bad things of course. Starting with Kylee,
she unfortunately is no longer set. She seems to have lost her
motivation to learn as much as she wanted to last time and also with
coming to church. We had talked with some members and all ready
arranged a ride for her with us tagging along as well. We popped by
before church and she explained to us that she didn't feel like going.
Partly because she was very busy with family obligations and what not
but still she is lacking that motivation. We will still try next week
for sure. But that will mean about 3 weeks of trying to get her to
come to church. Her motivation with learning has kind of slackened was
well. Elder Rogers and I aren't to sure whats up. We think that it
could be the lack of felling the spirit in the lessons. Minding that
we haven't been able to sit down with her and have a member with us
since we first set her for baptism. We will be continuing to work with
her on that this week.
Fa is doing amazing. He has lots of member support so of course he is
doing fantastic. He was suppose to come to church this week. He
actually had a co-worker come up to and offer to take his place on
Sundays, however he chickened out at the last minute so Fa had to go
to work. He called us during our study time and apologized and
everything, we just reassured him that it is all ok and that things do
happen. Next week for sure. We met up with the Tuah'ho family that
evening and his girl friend explained to us how sad and disappointed
he was, Elder Rogers and I could certainly hear it on the phone. We
will be having another lesson with him this coming Thursday so it
should be awesome. The only other thing that could be challenging him
is the Word of Wisdom, he is trying hard with cutting the smokes,
coffee, and what not. We always encourage him to pray for strength and
look for things to keep him busy so he doesn't fall for the
temptation. I hope I get to see him baptized. There could be a chance
that I may get moved out before he is finally able to. Fa is doing
well though for sure.
Elder Rogers and I have found a few new people this week that have
invited us to come visit them. We have got to be careful, because
sometimes people don't really want to learn and simply invited us over
to get to know us, learn where we are from and don't real express an
honest desire to learn. There are only 2 things that we can do in a
situation like that. Either no longer visit them, or try to build
their desire. There is only so much you can do to build peoples
desires to learn about the gospel. Ultimately it comes down to them
planting that seed of faith and looking to see if it is a good seed.
They have to use there agency, we can't force them. If they can't do
that for us then they don't progress :/ Oh on an interesting note we
met someone who was a follower of John the Baptist :S I never seen
that, but will be likely returning to see how they feel about the BoM,
we just got to know them for a short time.
We have a few other people that we are trying to get progressing. If
you guys remember Howard form last week, well he didn't come to church
this week. So that was a bit of a bummer. We try to visit him at times
however working 16 hour shifts can make it very difficult to see
people. We tried popping in to see him before church but he
unfortunately wasn't home. We will keep trying, miracles do happen
just as they have happened in the past, and the adversary will try to
combat you! The best thing to do is keep a positive attitude no matter
what happens. That is a major key to missionary work.
Oh I got to meet President Balli this week! He is fantastic and a
wonderful president. We got to have interviews with him and also get
know a bit about them and their family. They are from Colorado in the
US. I think they may need to figure out the controls, but once they do
it will be full steam ahead! Nothing has really changed much other
than having a cell phone now. It has been a wonderful tool for
communicating with members, investigators and leaders.
I don't got much time, P-days are really just to short. But none the
less they are great! Glad to see that every one is doing ok back at
home. It is very cool having all my friends leaving on their missions,
I can't imagine what it will be like to come back and get together
again! The puppet show must have been fun! The sword fights are
intense even in a puppet show haha. We better have some good things
planned to go see as a family when I get back, I think you guys might
be having to much fun. haha it is all good though. Sorry for no picks
this week, my usb gots a virus so I am still trying to work that out.
Love you all take care,
-Elder Ward
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