Hey just filling you in on this week! I hope yours was great!

This week was a blast...even though it was HOT! But we had plenty of great experiences. I'm so grateful to be a Missionary to be able to! While going throughout this week I've had the focused on how can I better embrace Christ this year." So far I think I've done really well. With not only the focus on trying my best to study out of the best books (Scriptures) I've seen the great love that Heavenly Father truly has for us. Being able to see these things occurring in the lives of those that have been faithful in keeping the commandments. And to see that God wants us to be obedient but will not force us. The Lord loves all of us no matter what. It's so comforting to know that God will never change his ways. 

Back to the scene of the New Year's Day plunge...grass still matted down

"Believe in God, believe that He is, believe that He created all things both in Heaven and in Earth. Believe that he has all wisdom and all power both in Heaven and in Earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can Comprehend." (Mosiah 4:9)

This week Elder Burns and I worked hard to do our best in helping others see the potential they do have.

Monday Was a normal Prep-day for the Week. We had a Family Home Evening with the Busby's on goal setting with it being New Years. I didn't eat anything so I got a really bad headache so we got a ride home.

Tuesday- Just like usual we had a very wacky District Meeting. Sister Kata never stops laughing and it makes everyone else crack-up. Following the meeting we were asked to do service for Brother Schwalger, packing stuff to get him moved. Elder Vave and Kapeteni worked on getting stuff into boxes. I vacuumed the house. After getting all that done, their neighbor was in need of moving a piano. Wow was that thing heavy!  A lot of hit and miss visits today. We only had one with Becky (Shirley's Daughter). We learned heaps about her and her beliefs.  We visited a less-active member named Kaputai, and met his friend, Anaru, a member from Hamilton. We invited him to church but weren't too sure if he was keen on coming. We had a really good talk with the Yee's family, they fed us dinner and gave us coconuts to drink. Last Visit was with Tai Iorangi to help out with some investigators. 

Wednesday- Elder Burns and I while riding our bikes dodged both a dog and a cat. One lady we tried to talk to...pulled the I think someone is calling me card and proceeded to put her phone to her ear. At lunch we cleaned our bathroom, while cleaning Elder Kapeteni blocked our door with the sofa. Silly missionaries.  Later, the Irvines asked us if they could go on a some visits with them. We took them to visit Meli. We explained to the Irvines that she was a less-active and was a dancer. Elder Irvine asked, Is she a night club dancer?" Got a good laugh with that one ha ha

Thursday-  In an effort to help Shirley stop smoking we read Ether 12 with her to show her that it is possible to quit smoking, all she needs to do is put her trust in the Lord. We had trade-off with President Broederlow and had no success until the last visit of the night with Jalaire New (less active). She wants to come back but wants her non-member partner to join her. I shared D&C 58:2 to help her out. She was more or less worried about the memories that come to her about her father. We reassured her that she didn't need to worry about being sad all she needed to know was that he is still there.

Friday- I had a Nutri-bullet smoothie from the Busby's with lettuce, carrots, apples, papaya. and bananas, wow that was good! I was supercharged all day. We helped Brother Schwalger move into his new house.We waited at the new house for a good 30 minutes. It took ages for them to finally get there, and then we were running with boxes up and down a flight of stairs to get it done in a hurry because we had a lesson with Sister Kelly, Kata, and Palu with their investigator about 3 kilometers away at the Great South Road Chapel. We rode so fast to get there but my bike just wouldn't cooperate with me, funny how I've had nothing but problems with bikes on my mission. I stopped to see what the problem was...my brake was rubbing against my tire. I pulled the brakes off and was able catch up to Elder Burns. Lesson went well and we rode back to our area to visit with Meli but she wasn't home so we visited the girls (Viarn and Jyshiah), recent converts. We came home to see Elder Ward all bandaged up...he fell off his bike and almost broke his wrist in the process.

The Nutri-Bullett smoothie

Saturday- We had a flat inspection while Elder Lee and I did service, trimmed hedges. While Elder Burns and Ward had to go to the chapel and send pictures to the Area Medical Advisor. Saturday's are the worst when it comes to work, but we had a mean feed with Uasi and Shirley...We had a lamb that had been roasting on a spit.

Sunday- We had a very spiritual Preach My Gospel class; I taught about the Atonement! I cried about 5 minutes into the lesson. We showed a really powerful video on the Atonement and Missionary Work. Everyone bore their testimonies about the Savior. Gospel Principles lesson was about service. Taught Primary (4-5 year olds) on trust. We had a really good dinner with the Lapu'aho Family and had a discussion on some gospel principles. And lastly someone tried to brake into our flat while some of us were in the flat. Scary stuff, nah not really, we could've taken them....