Manurewa Week 6 - Mother's Day

No post this week as we had a fabulous Mother's Day call with Elder Green.  Happy to report that he is doing awesome.  He is happy and all is well.

Manurewa Week 5

Kia ora everyone!

This has been a really good week. We were able to get a lot done and work closely with a lot of our members and investigators! And I got my first baptism in the mission so far last Saturday. I am coming to love the area more and more as I spend more time here. South Auckland has it's pros and cons but I try to focus on all the pros. I don't have any pictures for this week because last p-day we got rained out of going to the beach we planned to visit. I am doing quite well out here and lately there has been high stress because we as missionaries had to set up the baptism and get everything sussed but it has passed and we are all the better for it. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! I will talk to everyone next week. 

Arohanui,

Elder Green

Manurewa Week 4

Kia ora everyone!

This week has been good but not eventful. We've had just another standard mission week. My companion and I were able to work with a few people I haven't had the chance to meet just yet and they are all pretty awesome! I also had the opportunity to meet with Brandon this weekend. He came up to Manurewa and took my companion and I out to dinner at the New Zealand equivalent of Texas Roadhouse. Other than that nothing of special not e really happened. We did a lot of work with some of our members and have built strong relationships with some of the converts that were baptized before I got to the area. I hope everyone else is having a great week and a good day! Until next week.

Arohanui,

Elder Green

Manurewa Week 3

Kia ora whanau!

We had a good week this week! We had our zone conference with a general authority this week and it was a powerful one! Everyone was really nervous at first but Elder Ardern is a really cool person! Not as intimidating as I thought. But both him and his wife called on me to do things multiple times and he stopped me in the handshake line to talk to me for a bit and that was VERY intimidating. I felt like he looked into my soul and saw every time I woke up at 6:31. But it was a good day. Afterwards I was able to go on an exchange and learn a little from him. I got to meet quite a few really cool families. 

Auckland is pretty good but I still miss the small town. Even Hamilton seemed a little more like Payson or Show Low than a big city. And I am in the ghetto, so we can't do much as soon as the sun goes down for safety reasons. Only go to appointments. But it's really nothing to be super worried about.  Here in Auckland, because all the missionaries are so close, we meet together often at the Zone leaders for lunch or for dinner or on P-days. Because of that, I have grown close with so many other missionaries. We all kind of see each other as brothers in arms and we put a lot of trust into each other. I will definitely keep in touch with most of these people and probably have a place to stay all over the world if I need it with some. But who knows. 

All is well! Still kicking! 

Arohanui,

Elder Green

Manurewa Week 2

Kia ora everyone! 

This week was pretty good! Elder Borders and I were able to do a few really good visits with our most progressing investigators. I was able to give him some feedback on how he did but I feel that I'm not qualified enough to be giving advice. I'm still a "fresh as" missionary in comparison to the other missionaries around. But it feels good to be in the position I am. It keeps me on my toes! My first time in the ward was yesterday and it seems very welcoming! I am less worried that I will gain 50 pounds, its not near as bad as I thought. And I am working out and exercising a lot more than when I was home so hopefully it will counter the weight gain. But South Auckland is not as nice as Ngaruawahia. We can't really do anything as soon as it gets dark unless we have appointments. And everyone works until about 3 so the work is hard. But we do our best. 

The mission is kind of going by exponentially. Every week goes faster than the last. It kind of scares me! I might blink and have to leave New Zealand.. But this week we have a general authority coming to our mission to tour it. Ian S. Ardern of the Seventy will be at our zone conference and will be going around the mission to each of the zones. It will be pretty cool! Not much else is happening this week. I hope everyone's week is super eventful!

Arohanui,

Elder Green

Manurewa Week 1 --To the City!

Kia ora everyone! 

Hope all is well back home! A lot of changes for me this last week. It was transfer week and I finally made it out of Ngaruawahia. I am now in South Auckland. The place notorious in the mission for gaining weight and gangs. So far so good though!  I am in Manurewa, serving in the Weymouth ward of the Manurewa Stake. HEAPS of islanders. More Tongan than Samoan, but very very few palangis (white people) were in the ward building yesterday. Its still good though. We had dinner with a family from Niue and they are crack up! The dad is hilarious just in the way he is, I don't think he was trying to be funny but we all had a lot of laughs. The islander laugh is really contagious. My new companion is quite new to the mission and I have been asked to finish his training. His name is Elder Borders. He is a great guy and has a very similar background to me! He spent the better part of his life in Hawaii! We are getting along really well and I hope to learn from him as I attempt to help him learn from me.

It was sad saying goodbye to everyone but it was going to happen eventually. I only hope to connect to the people of Weymouth ward as much as I connected to the people in Ngaruawahia ward. This week has been really slow with the work because of transfer week but we hope to pick it up this week.

The mission has already gone super fast. I cant believe I am already in my second area... Already on my 3rd companion. Too fast.. I am really worried for when I hit the year mark. Everyone says time just plummets after that point. Then you're on the next flight home crying because you have left the mission. Not looking too forward to that... 

General Conference was pretty crazy! (I didn't get to watch it until yesterday because I was a day ahead when it happened last week) I have put a few things in order and hopefully will get Brandon closer on his path toward baptism. I don't have much else to report for now! Hopefully I will have more to say next week! 

Arohanui,

Elder Green

Ngaruawahia Week 24- April Fool's Day

Kia ora whanau!

This may be the last time from Ngaruawahia. How does everyone do with the pronunciation? What do people say when they say Ngaruawahia? Here my pronunciation is doing really well! Most of the time when I say where I am serving people look at me funny and ask me to say it again because I am the one pakeha fella who says it right. I was once asked to read a sentence in Maori and the guy who asked me to read it was shocked! It was hilarious! So thanks Dad for teaching me pronunciation as a child. It helped out here! I am thinking that I may end up in Temple View. That is just my guess. I could go just about anywhere though.. I will find out tomorrow! 

How is it being up there? That is something I am starting to miss. High elevation and pine forests. The beauty here is astounding but I do miss that little part of home. 

I haven't seen General Conference yet, we don't watch it live. We just broadcast it a week later so next Sunday/Saturday is when I will see it all. 

Sounds like the family is doing good. I looked at some of the statistics on lds.org this morning and I saw that there were 67,049 full-time missionaries serving and said wow. Das me. Hopefully I will get more pictures soon. Don't really have any new ones now. 

Arohanui,

Elder Green

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Then . . . Elder Green decided to throw me for a loop. I can usually catch him when he's at his computer and we can "email chat" which just means we send each other emails back and forth.

Elder Green:  Oh and umm... We kind of sent our car through a tree this week... The bill will be coming home. We are okay, airbags ejected and we are just a bit bruised. Probably wont be too expensive. Just frame damage.

Me:  Umm so we pay for that?

Elder Green: Yes, its my fault. Church insurance wont cover it... 

Elder Green: It was due to some stupidity and I guess could be considered disobedience so the mission won't pay for it. Its a 2015 Toyota Corolla.

Elder Green: The shop has it now, no price has been given to us yet.

Me: That looks more expensive than the rear end bumper damage that cost $1800..

Elder Green: The church will send a formal letter as soon as they get a quote from the shop and will probably have you add it to the missionary funds or put it under other or something.

Me: Sounds like we need a little more explanation. I’m glad you’re okay but not happy about stupidity and disobedience. What lessons have you learned? 

Elder Green: I have learned that it is April 2nd in New Zealand and you guys are one day behind us still. 

Elder Green: The dent is real and in our car but it happened ages ago and wasn't my fault at all. I wasn't even in the car. But yeah there was no wreck. Someone just pointed out to me that it was still April Fools in America so I thought I might see if I could get you guys. I apologize for any anger I may have stirred in the last half hour! 

Elder Green: Love you guys! ..

Me:  (#aprilfooled) Oh you got me good! You’re a punk!

Elder Green: Sorry mom! No there is no bill and what not but you have to admit that was pretty good.

Me: Yeah that was good. I was troubled that you seemed so nonchalant about it!  I can breathe a little easier knowing you’re not stupid or disobedient. Love you!