Kia ora everyone!
This week hasn't been too eventful. Our most progressing investigator now has a full time job Monday to Friday so we didn't see him except for on Saturday and Sunday. We had a really good visit with him talking about the Book of Mormon and about the church in general on Saturday and he committed to coming to church the next day! He did come and he ended up staying all 3 hours and not wanting it to end. He said that the meetings felt really short and he thought that 3 hours was going to be long but he wished they were longer! His faith and testimony are growing so strong because after he finally decided to read the Book of Mormon after so many invitations from previous missionaries over the course of months, he realized the truthfulness of the Book and started to see his life improving. We asked him to pray about baptism and hopefully we will be able to set a date for him the next time we see him.
I was also able to attend a karakia with the Maori King! He isn't a monarch and doesn't rule New Zealand but he is highly respected and it was a very special opportunity that me and Elder Suriben were able to attend karakia with him. Karakia is basically like a bible study/prayer circle gathering of a handful of people. But the prince invited us to come along because he is investigating the church. We weren't given the opportunity to speak but we were told it's because one of the old men who didn't really know what he was doing kind of took our place in being able to speak. But we were able to witness and sort of participate in the experience! We were let onto the King's marae (the biggest marae in New Zealand) and were escorted into the meetinghouse where the maori throne and all of the many gifts given to the throne were placed. We sat down and were able to talk to a few different people. I was able to surprise a lot of people because they all thought I was just a regular American but I had perfect pronunciation of maori words and then I was able to share with them part of my whakapapa (sort of like a lineage). I wasn't able to actually speak with the King himself because he was busy with other people (there was about 25 of us in attendance). Anyway, that was an amazing experience and we will most likely be invited to the next karakia and be given an opportunity to speak.
Other than that, not much has happened. This week is transfer week so we will be busy with various other errands and probably won't be able to do a whole lot of work. I am now certified to drive here and so we hope that the mission office will give us a car to use during the week but we aren't 100% sure they will. I was told by the Zone leaders that I was the best greenie driver that they've ever had to certify. Most the people they had to certify were crazy or abrupt drivers. Hopefully that sticks though. I have noticed a lot of different driving habits here in NZ. But it really has impacted me because I saw a video with driving on the left side of the road and I thought that was blasphemy! The thought that I used to drive on that side of the road is quite foreign it feels like! But, I'm doing well in New Zealand! We are in week 6 which is transfer week. It's a little sad because a lot of missionaries I know are leaving and I've grown quite close to them, but I guess that's just part of the mission. Some of them are returning home next week so that will be sad but I look forward to meeting more missionaries and working with others. But until next week!
Arohanui,
Elder Green
