Hello Family and Friends!!Well, this week is transfers week, we will be finding out if we stay or if we move. I have been here in Whangarie for about four to five months. It's been awhile but I love it out here in the country. The Moria people are really nice and spiritual. They don't mind talking about God because they believe in these things and they are big into family history. Hopefully I'll be able to stay another transfer because Christmas is coming up and the members are putting something together for us missionaries and it will be a great Christmas up here.
Last
Monday we had a Zone P-Day. Our mission president has changed a rule
that we missionaries are able to have a Zone P-day once a transfer. We
decided all the elders and sisters to go up to the Whi-Pu caves, where
we were able to crawl, jump and walk through water in the pitch dark
cave. It was a good thing we all had head lamps. The caves were massive
and really dirty. We were all in the caves for two hours or so. We had
this one moment were everybody turned their lights off and looked up
towards the caves and could see glow warms that glowed in the dark.
While oohing and ahhing we started to sing in the dark. It was great!!
We sang "Nearer my God to Thee". We could hear the echo going through
out the caves. It was just an amazing moment to never forget. We were
able to bond ever closer together as a Zone and as friends. We may be
weird, but hey its two years of being weird.
During
the week, Elder Hall and I were able to go on splits with two of our
members. The member and I were able to go to one of our former
investigators house to see him. We knocked on the door and he was very,
very, very happy to see us and was wondering where the missionaries
went. His name is Bruce, a single dad with two teenage kids. Bruce had
his wife pass away from cancer and grew up in a very rough life. He went
through a lot of trials and difficulties. He has a strong Christian
background and his knowledge about the God is really strong. He has a
lot of knowledge but doesn't know how to get a firm foundation that can
be useful. Sterling, the member and our recent convert, was able to ask
him to come to church on Sunday
because we were having a special sacrament. This special sacrament was
happening all over the Pacific area. It had to do with the Atonement of
Jesus Christ. That following Sunday
we were able to see Bruce walk into the chapel with a big smile on his
face. He was able to sit during the whole sacrament and listened on the
talks. Later on Bruce told us that one of his appointments canceled and
that it was meant to be that he came to church that day. Another member
of ours came up and introduced himself to Bruce and we were able to go
to Gospel Principles class with him and really get to know him. This
member and Bruce hit it off really well, it was as if they knew each
other and could relate to one another. Both of them had their wives die
in a similar way. Seeing them both talk, I could image both their wives
talking to each other about how their husbands should meet each other.
It was a great moment to see both of them talk and express their
thoughts about Heavenly Father. Bruce is a work in progress. He will
probably be a long one before he joins the church, maybe not when I'm up
here but someday and when that day does come I will be very happy to
see him in the temple someday.
That some day
Elder Hall was able to teach other investigators of ours. She was very
happy too. She has a partner who is a less active member and has two
little ones. Her name is Sarah. She is wanting to stop smoking. She
expressed to Elder Hall her thoughts about baptism. Sarah will probably
be a long one before she becomes a full member of the church. It was a
great week and a week of laughs and jokes and wonders. I still can't
believe that December is almost here and is going to be gone in a blink
of an eye. Hopefully I'll stay here another transfer and be able to see
more miracles. The members are great, they are funny and love us
missionaries and are taking good care of us and our health as well.
There are a lot of new changes here and there and new missionaries
coming and old missionaries leaving to go home. I hope you all have a
great week, a week of fun times to always remember. Thank you and will
catch up again the following week.
