First Area

Hey Guys! It has been quite the week and a bit. I now have my P-days on Monday instead of Friday because I have made it to the field! I left the MTC last Wednesday and went to the mission home and stayed in a camp near Temple view which is where the temple, mission office, mission home, Church College, and the Matthew Cowley museum is. I got to the field Thursday afternoon and its been quite the adventure getting used to it since. My first area is a small town called Ngaruawahia (Narrr oo uh wah hee uh​). It's pretty awesome and reminds me a lot of Round Valley! It looks almost exactly the same (but 50x more green) and is pretty cold. My first companion is Elder Suriben, a Filipino who has been here for a bit over a year. The mission lingo is a little something to get used to but whenever anyone asks a missionary how long they've been on their missions, we are only supposed to say either a bit under or a bit over a year. He is a great guy and I'm learning a ton from him.

In Ngaruawahia ward, the people all love the missionaries! Its the only ward in town and has us Elders and a pair of Sisters. I was able to bear my testimony and share a thought with them all on Sunday and a lot of them wanted to know more about me. Once I told someone that my heritage is here in New Zealand and that my father's family is from the East coast, word spread like wildfire and everyone wanted to know more! I have been getting along really well with the members and they are crazy involved with missionary work. They're all wonderful people. I hope I'm able to be here for a few transfers before I move on. 

New Zealand has more green in a square mile than all of the Phoenix metro area. I can hardly believe my eyes just driving past pastures and mountainsides. The dairy products here are 50x better and more rich here than in America and the running explanation is that its because the cows here actually eat green grass all the time. But man I love it here. I went for a hike this morning and it was pretty much straight up. Once we got to the top, we took a break and I noticed steam coming off of all of us. Since it's so cold and so humid at the same time, we don't even need our breaths to see steam! Crazy! But anyway, I love you all! Hopefully I'll be able to share more in the coming weeks. Kia kaha. 

- Elder Green

Also. NO WAY! THAT'S SO COOL! I kinda figured that Bishop McLaws was going to be out by the time I got back but I didn't expect so soon or that Dad would be bishop! That's crazy! I kinda always saw Dad as a bishop though. I never really guessed when he would get called, but I've seen it coming since we lived in RV. Best of luck to him in that calling! Hopefully he doesn't get too overworked with his new third job! Haha.