Ngaruawahia 3

Kia Ora everyone!

Beautiful New Zealand has not been too kind to me this last week. I got quite busy with exchanges and with heaps of service opportunities so it was a good week work wise but the weather was not so kind. It was clear skies most of the days but then it turned on us about halfway through the day sometimes and went super rainy. It is pretty warm and humid here so I try to avoid my rain coat as much as I can. Which means I get wet head to toe when rain comes out of nowhere. I guess that's the cost of living in such a green and beautiful place. The other day we had an appointment with Brother McQueen who is a less active member that lives way up the road leading out to the outskirts of town. It takes about 25 minutes by bike to get to his driveway and then another 5 to get up the driveway to his house. It rained the whole way there. We had a mean discussion with him so it was all worth it. (**Note: Jason says I have to tell you non-NZers that 'mean' is actually a good term here.  Meaning they had a great discussion!)

We also had the opportunity to talk to an investigator who has turned down the missionaries here for months. He finally accepted the Book of Mormon about a month ago and has absolutely loved it. We have had long discussions about the book itself and it has made me truly grateful for seminary. Most of the questions that Brandon asked were about the story and then I remembered certain principles I learned in seminary sophomore year. The spirit was so strong during that discussion and I asked him to be baptized but he gave a couple concerns. My companion and I hope to resolve those concerns and set him for baptism this coming week. I will let you know how that all works out. 

I am learning heaps and I could not have asked for a better place to be serving. The amount of trials and blessings that I have received, even only being out for just over a month, are just absolutely amazing. I hope that as I progress, I will be able to learn and grow more and more. I wish you all the best! 

Elder Green

This is also a little info he sent to us in a separate email.  I'll include it here for you all to read...

New Zealand is quite amazing so far. I am truly loving all the different cultural things I get to see here and there. The Maori language is rarely spoken but I can see words everywhere. I even plan to have a member help me to translate my testimony to Maori before I leave the area. I might even have someone else help me to translate it to Samoan as well! We will see. I am getting along exceedingly well with my companion and my district. The other two elders in my district are awesome and I love working with them. We did some exchanges last week so I was able to spend time with them both. Elder Tune is our district leader and he's really funny. He is from Kiribati. Elder Taito is Samoan but he was raised in Oklahoma. He considers himself American. My companion is awesome and according to mission lingo, I'm going to "kill" him. That just means he's is going to "die" (go home) while he is with me making me his final companion. We can't do anything but bike and walk here since we don't have a car yet. The other day we biked in the pouring rain for thirty minutes to get to someone's house. That was quite a bummer but we dried up by the end of the day so its alright.

We eat at member's houses about 3 out of 7 days a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. When we cook, we either just make chicken and rice or we make noodles or someone brings us food. But its alright, we both love chicken and rice so we eat it a lot. 

You have to send all mail and packages to the mission office and then sometimes the zone leaders can bring it to me or I just have to wait until the next person comes from the mission office to drop stuff off. 

I'm one of the only ones because everyone else doesn't have a full license. Only the American and European elders and sisters have a full license that they can operate on. The rest are just "island licenses" or learners.

Ngaruawahia 2

Hey guys!

So far, the mission has been pretty good. We've had a couple slow days in the last week but we tried our best to keep working on the people in the area. I haven't taught a single lesson to anyone as we have only met with less actives and a couple investigators who we only read scriptures with outside their house. Hopefully we will be able to find a few more investigators and actually teach some lessons. We got a few people to come to church yesterday and that was quite the surprise! 

The other day I met a lady who was nice at first but after about 5 minutes on her doorstep she started smashing my companion with shame and doubt. She was saying things kindly, but nothing kind. We tried to leave but she kept us on her doorstep for a while. Some of the things she said were quite out there.. We tried our best to help her and eventually decided to just start walking away. We offered her service as we walked away and she actually gave us something to do. We might try go back next week to follow up and maybe do that service but who knows! 

It has rained and rained and rained all week too. We had to stop riding bikes and start walking everywhere so that we could carry our umbrellas. I've come home drenched a few times and it is so humid here. It is way different from the environment back home. But man do I love it here. Hopefully I will have a story or two more to tell next week. 

-Elder Green

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. 

MTC Week 2

I leave the MTC for the field on next Wednesday. My email:

Kia ora everyone! Its been a great second week in the MTC. I've learned a lot this week on how to teach and how to improve my teaching skills. It's funny to know that I already knew most of this material and I knew the doctrine, but I feel like I never could have taught it before now. My spirituality increases more and more everyday as I see the blessings and prayers working for me. This spiritual high and closeness to the gospel is a feeling I never want to leave!

So this last week I actually got a pretty nasty cold, and usually those completely take me out. It did wipe me out one of the mornings and it was just about impossible to focus or do anything. I asked my companion and the other Elders in the room to give me a blessing during a study time and boy let me tell you, the effects of that blessing were almost immediate. I at least had part of my focus back at that point but later in the day and the next day, the cold was pretty much gone. I still have a clogged nose but that's the only thing I've had for the last several days. It really helped to grow my testimony. 

Let me share a little with you about my companion and my district here in the MTC since I might have been a little vague in the last email.

Elder Clement: My companion and a real enthusiastic guy from Washington state. He sings every chance he gets and is really devoted to the work. 

Elder Saxton: A sarcastic guy who is very similar to me. He's like me in a lot of ways. He's from Utah and is one of my roommates.

Elder Leiataua: A Samoan from Australia. He is a funny guy and our district leader. He is very humble and I admire him. Elder Saxton's companion.

Elder Ferre: A small man from Utah but he's awesome. He's a smooth and calm talker and he's pretty funny.

Elder Brodie: He is a full on Australian who already has a degree! He's now 22 and used to be apostate. His testimony is very strong and I admire him a lot.

Sister Moser: She's 20 and from Utah. She is the only American sister in the whole MTC and rather quiet but once she opened up, she was really funny!

Sister Fa'oa: Shes Tongan but from Australia. She is very sarcastic and really likes teasing us all. She's awesome though, I appreciate her helpfulness.

Anyway, my time is up! Wish you all the best!

-Elder Green

Handwritten letter

We actually got a handwritten letter dated October 1, 2017 in the mail! It was exciting.  I've transcribed it for you here:

Hey Guys! So I have been having a decent time here in the MTC. My start in New Zealand was good! I got to have breakfast at McDonalds with Dad, Nanny, Josh and Auntie Jossie.  After that I went straight to the MTC and began getting processed.  I got to meet my companion, Elder Clement, who is very bubbly and energetic.  He reminds me A LOT of a friend of mine back home.  I also found out that he and I strangely have a lot in common.  His first name is Braden, spelled the same.  He has the exact same hand towel, razor, tennis shoes, and first name as me.  A little freaky!  Other than the nap I was allowed to take Thursday morning, we have been going 100% nonstop.  It's hard and long but a great experience.  I love you all and will be sending, or have already sent, an email with more and some of the same information.
Sincerely, Elder Green

First email from the MTC

Kia ora everyone! It has been absolutely amazing spending this last week in the MTC and in New Zealand alone! It is gorgeous out here and the amount of green I have seen in the 100 mile radius I've seen so far probably equates to the amount of green in the entire western United States! If that makes sense.. Anyways, I love it! I had the opportunity to go to the Hamilton Temple yesterday and it truly is one of a kind. I hope to be able to visit it during my mission. The MTC here carries a special spirit as it only has about 80 missionaries total. Maybe 20 Sisters and 60 Elders. I know almost everyone's name and there is a lot of strong friendships among us all. There are a ton of Polynesian missionaries and I love getting to know them and their stories about their home islands. One of the Tongans was going to go semi-pro rugby before deciding to serve a mission. My companion's name is Elder Clement and he is a wonderful missionary. He loves to sing and is always very excited and upbeat. In some ways he is the polar opposite of me, but it adds to my testimony as we work together to study and teach. A whole lot has happened this week and I hope I am able to share it with you all sometime but my email time is very limited. I wish you all a great week!

Elder Green

Elder Green arrives in New Zealand

I got to talk to Elder Green for a couple of minutes after he landed in NZ this morning! He said he traveled from San Francisco to NZ with about 20 other missionaries on the same flight.  (I bet the other people on that flight didn't even realize how protected they were! :-))  Out of all the other missionaries, he was the only one going to the NZ Hamilton Mission.  I guess all the others were going to Auckland or Wellington.   I will post the first email I get from Elder Green as soon as I get it!