Prayer

Kia Ora Everyone

Seems like just yesterday i was emailing crazy how the weeks just fly by!

This week well it was a little rough sometimes there are weeks where there is just nobody home.  We had the opportunity to go to a Tangi this week though that was really cool I hadn't been to one for a whole transfer so it was about time we were invited to one.  And we got to see a little performance of the Haka which was awesome cause who doesn't love that!

Anyways we really didnt have to many visits this week but the few we had were incredible, we had made a lesson plans for all our visits and each time the spirit took us some other way and they turned our way better than they would have, we had a visit with one of the less active members and we were going to talk about the oath and covenant of the priesthood, after talking to him for a little bit the spirit had us start talking about confidence and what not and we were just jumping from scripture to scripture in The Book of Mormon to help him, at one point in the lesson he stopped us and looked at me and said "how are you finding all these scriptures" and I said honestly i have no idea this all by the spirit.  it was a really cool experience for me personally to see how the spirit can work through me.  We were then talking to the bishop on sunday and he told us that in comparing his visit with this member last sunday to this sunday the difference was like night and day, he is so much more sure of everything this week its incredible.  That makes us as missionaries feel really good knowing that we are making a difference in the peoples lives that we teach.

Like I said really not to much happening this week, we were supposed to have a baptism this saturday but it had to be postponed because of some things.  But its all good because the lord know best and his timing is better than ours!

I want to end this email by bearing my testimony on prayer, I know that prayer works I know that Heavenly Father loves us and that he does answer our prayers. I know this Gospel is true it is absolutely 100 percent true and i can say that very confidently.  Thomas S. Monson is Gods prophet on the earth!

I love you all thanks for all of the love and support, and for all the prayers thank you all so much!  Have a wonderful week!

Those of you starting school this week hope you all have a good first week!

Dax and his companion, Elder Brunson

Dax and Elder Rios

Finally, some REAL fish and chips for this boy.

Raining Outside

Kia Ora Everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful week, this first week of transfers was a little crazy but nonetheless we hit our goals that we wanted to reach this week and it was awesome!

To start off we had emails with President Rudd on thursday and those were awesome I love President Rudd! Him and Sister Rudd actually came down to Wairoa on wednesday to pay us a little surprise visit so we went back to our flat to see them and when we were talking to them they told us they left us a gift on our porch, so after they left we look on our porch and there is a pringles can! And then we look inside and there was nothing in it!!!! hahaha that is classic President Rudd.

But because of interviews we were a little behind on some of the goals we had set this week so yesterday we still had heaps of things we needed to do so after church we took lunch and then went to work we were out tracting in the rain from about 3:30 to 5:00 and it was miserable nobody was home(or they knew the mormons were knocking...) we had planned to just knock one street and ended up doing the entire block!  

There were a few times while we were knocking doors that i was thinking to myself what am I doing I'm wet and I'm cold i should be inside instead of outside.  Of course that would be the logical thing to do its raining stay in side.  But on a mission we are not here to do the logical thing we are out to do what the Lord wants us to do! 

I can promise you all that sometimes it may be "raining outside" and it will be hard to go outside and we may get wet(in some cases very wet) and we may get cold but as we do what Heavenly Father wants us to do we will be warm and dry no matter what the conditions "outside" may be. 

Once again I want to share my testimony with everyone who is reading this from the group email or on the blog.  I know this church is true.  I know that Jesus is the Christ and that he lives today.  I am so grateful for the opportunity that i have to be a missionary and to preach this gospel to the people of New Zealand, I am also grateful for the trials that Heavenly Father places in my life because they make me stronger!

I love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week, thank you for all the prayers, they really do give me added strength each day!

A little NZ snow

Wairoa sunset

Trials

Kia Ora Everyone

Well the big news of the week i am now training a new missionary down in Wairoa! his name is Elder Brunson and he is from Washington!  

I really dont have to much time this week so sorry this is going to be really short but we didnt get to visit our family of five this week because they were sick and they had some other things come up so pray that we can meet with them this week!

We had a really fun time driving up to transfers it takes about three days out of our schedule to get up to Hamilton but we made it there and back safely and we still had a really good week!

Sorry the events of this week are so short but my message for you all this week is about trials!

I know we all do not look forward to the trials that we will experience in our lives and i know alot of times it is hard to believe that anything good can come from trials.  But I testify that good things do come and that when the end comes we will look back and realize that trial made us grow that it changed!  And when we trust in God and do his will our trials will be made light because God will be right there with us helping us to bear the weight which has been placed upon our shoulders!  I know this to be true I know the Gospel is true!  I know that Jesus Christ lives and that he is our Saviour and Redeemer! I know it.

Last P-day with Elder Stephens

Sunday will come

Kia Ora Everyone

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week and that everyone is doing well!  

Well this week started out a little slower appointments falling through and nobody to see! It a got a little frustrating!  So really nothing had happened this whole week, and then Sunday came and first thing one of our investigators came to church! it was awesome to finally have someone come to church! our prayers were answered! But it doesn't stop there after church We went with the Bishop and his councillors to do some baby blessings and when we got there we found out that two of the kids are over 8 and they asked us to come and to teach the kids, so we yes obviously but we also invited the kids to be baptised and they said yes! and then come to find out the parents are not baptised so we invited them also so we now have 5 new investigators to teach and 5 baptisms set for the end of August! it was incredible after a whole week of nothing working out on Sunday we get an amazing miracle!

This made me think of a talk that Joseph B. Wirthlin a former member of the quorum of the twelve gave.  In the talk he talked about the crucifixion of the Saviour, and the sadness that it brought to his apostles his mother and really all of the members of the church of that time.  But one thing they had forgotten was that in three days time Sunday would come the Saviour would rise from the dead, and all of the pain and suffering of those other days would be worth it.  Many of us now are passing through trials in our life that we feel we may never escape, but as Elder Wirthlin taught we must remember that "Sunday will come".

I testify that Sunday does come I know it because I have experienced it... Literally.  Hold firm trust in God have Faith and alawy always remember that Sunday comes.  I love you all hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Joy beyond measure

Kia Ora Whanau!

How was everyone's week? it seems like just yesterday that i was emailing this week flew by!

Well we will start of the email with a really funny story, well i thought it was funny, so we are at Amy and Logan's house making pizza and we decided to make four pizzas we ate one and we were like wow good thing we made 3 more so i go over to get the other two out and i open the oven and they weren't burnt but they were just a little crispy so i pulled them out and Elder stephens came over to cut them and he was having a really hard time cutting them and we had them on wax paper on the pan so me and elder stephens have the wonderful idea to carry the pizza over to the table by the wax paper and thinking it through i told elder stephens put your hands on the bottom so they don't rip through so he did and we are making our way across the kitchen and elder stephens goes "ah its like hot lava under there" and then lets go of the pizza the pizza then slid over onto one of my hands and it was like hot lava and long story short the pizza fell on the floor... we were all laughing really hard and then we burnt the other pizza haha but they all still were really good and we made them work haha.

Then on wednesday we went on an exchange i went up to the little town of nuhaka with elder rios and he was sick so i was in the flat with him all day.  Well i was in the flat while he slept all day, i had some really good studies though pretty much read the whole Book of Mormon haha.  

We have been having some pretty good weeks but there has been one problem we have been having and that is we haven't had one investigator come to church for the entire time that I have been here and that frustrates me a little, so we will for sure be working hard to get people to church because they need to come to church to get baptised!

Also I got to give a talk yesterday in church on repentance I used the parable of the prodigal son for the talk, that is such a wonderful parable and applies to all of us so well, I just think it is so wonderful that we have a loving father in heaven who is always willing to forgive us and loves us so much to send his son to suffer for our pain so we don't have to, and also for our older brother to love us enough to do that for us!  We are so lucky, and it is wonderful that it doesn't matter what we have done who we may have been in the past but as long as we like the prodigal son return to our father with a broken heart he will forgive us!  I testify that Jesus lives that he is the Christ and that he loves us and that the Atonement is real and we can be forgiven of our sins and we can through the saviour experience a "joy beyond measure" I know this church is true I know President Monson is Gods Prophet on the earth!

Have a wonderful week everyone I love you all!

Pumpkin pie and Pizza

Kia Ora Everyone

I hope everyone had a wonderful week, Me and Elder Stephens have still been trying to get over our cold and we finally have kicked it in the butt and it isn't bothering us anymore which is good!

The highlight of this week was for sure when we went over to a couple that we go and do service for and what not named Amy and Logan, and we made homemade pumpkin pie and homemade pizza! and it turned out great! it was awesome because they don't have pumpkin pie here in NZ so the pressure was on me and i think i pulled through cause they all really loved it! in fact they loved it so much that we are doing it again tomorrow!  

I week wasnt really to exciting besides that but it was still a really good week we visited with lots of people and did a bit of service which is always good! 

One thing i will share for this week is last week after p day we were at the bishops house and when we were leaving this lady started talking to us on the street, she told us that her husband was an atheist and that it would probably be easier to convert the devil than him, and then she told us that she supposes she is an atheist now and the same thing it would probably be easier to convert the devil himself so me and elder stephens looked at each other then looked at this lady and said "challenge accepted" haha so maybe we will stop by and visit her this week!

but that is really all i have but before i finish this i have to give a shout out to my friend Zac Waters who is opening his mission call tonight! congrats man! cant wait to hear where you are going! you are going to be one awesome missionary!

have a good week everyone love you all!

He's been out 5 months!

Despicable Me footie pajamas

Elder Holmes and Elder Stephens

Having fun

A little NZ landscape

July 5th

Kia Ora Whanau 

                                               

Sorry this is going to be short running a little low on time right now! so we will get right in to it!

First off this was a really good week other than me and Elder Stephens both came down with a cold or something and that gave us a nice kick for a few days but that didn't stop us from working hard!

We invited three people to be baptised and got two new Investigators! and so we will now work to set dates for those people that we invited to be baptised!

The other exciting part from this week is we again went and mustered some goats and we caught about 80 something goats this time which was awesome!  

One thing i would like to share with you all just because the experiences were so short today is that, I know there will be times when our faith will be shaken and people will try to tear the Church down, But I just want to bear my testimony that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Saviours only true church on the earth today and that it is the only church that holds all the keys to administer all of the saving ordinances that are required for salvation!  I know that Thomas S. Monson is Gods living prophet on the earth today! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth and translated The Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God!  This Church is true, I know it!

Have a wonderful week everyone and thank you for all the thoughts and prayers love you all!

Arohanui