Kia ora everyone!
This week was a bit of a sad week. Elder Suriben had to say his goodbyes to all the members and investigators. We were able to see quite a bit of families and they were all very sad to see him go. He and I have been in the area for about 4.5 months together and it feels sad to see the preview of what I'll be doing in about 6 weeks. We did make some good progress with Brandon and his family. We were invited to attend a hangi with him and his entire family along with his partner's family. We were able to build connections with a lot of them and possibly even get to teaching a few more of them. It was also great to see that those of his family that we are currently teaching avoided the alcohol and cigarettes that were present.
In the coming weeks I will be given the opportunity to lead the area with my new companion. We don't do senior and junior companions in this mission but we have a missionary who leads the area (whoever has been there the longest) and the follower more or less. I have been the "follower" for the last 3 transfers which has been really good. Most other missionaries said I was really lucky to get to be with my trainer for more than just 2 transfers. I also feel quite lucky to be in Ngaruawahia for 6 whole months because I absolutely love it here! The people are kind and the Maori culture here is stronger than a lot of places throughout New Zealand so I have been able to learn a lot. I feel truly blessed being here and I hope to make the best out of being here.
Arohanui,
Elder Green
**This is from a personal email to me. Just a different way of putting it.
This week is transfer week so I will find out who he is on Tuesday and then meet him on Thursday. 99.9% sure I will stay in Ngaruawahia and probably only for another 6 weeks. I will have done a quarter of my mission in my starting area and spent 3 whole transfers with my trainer. Everyone I've spoken to has told me that I should feel especially blessed for that. The only bummer is that my first and only companion is now leaving the mission completely and not just the area. So I won't see him for years if ever again. It is a bit rough but I guess I got used to it with the moving around a lot so I feel alright. Hopefully my next companion and I are able to get quite close as well.
