Ngaruawahia Week 9

Kia ora ko te whanau!

So this week, we have been full on 24/7 almost quite literally. While we work the Temple lights, we have to be on the temple grounds from 7-11pm. Yes. We are out and about quite a bit later than mission rules but the mission president has asked us to work according to what the visitors center needs so we are allowed to be up late!  The temple lights are amazing though! I have been working at them the past week and I really like it! I get to talk to heaps of people and learn different stories. I say Merry Christmas about 1000 times an hour and so sometimes my companion and I try to have a little fun with it and switch up our accents. But I really like it! We are out on the temple grounds until 11 though and we live a half hour from the temple so we don't actually get into bed until midnight and its quite draining. But we work hard and continue to work hard regardless. But it has taken its toll on us. We are usually quite dead throughout the day but there is always work to be done so we don't take any extra breaks. We still provide quite a bit of physical service and there is always more work. I am truly learning to work hard and to work long and I am ever so grateful for that experience. I truly love working at the temple lights however and it is definitely worth the long nights. We are able to talk to heaps upon heaps of people and learn so much from everyone that shows up. We are also able to find quite a bit of new investigators whether they are for us in our area or for other missionaries in other areas. I also must say that the Mesa Temple lights are a bit better than the Hamilton lights. But mostly because the Mesa grounds are flat and have more area to put up lights. The Hamilton Temple mostly has a bunch of bushes and a few trees and a lot of grass fields. But the lights are absolutely beautiful nonetheless. 

The work in the area has slowed down a little and we are slowly losing one of our best investigators. He is slipping more and more away from us and all we can do now is meet with him and talk about how life is going that week. He is a 14 year old boy who has been through so much in his short life. His name is Chay and we set him for baptism when I first got here, but he has since lost his way. We will continue to visit him and pray for him and help him as best we can. Our investigator Brandon is becoming more and more golden, but he has such a humble and good heart that he doesn't feel worthy or good enough to be baptized which is one of his only barriers. We are trying to help resolve that concern and let him know that baptism isn't just an easy way out. But he loves church and loves visiting with us. He usually just drops whatever he's doing to talk to us when we get up to his door. But anyway, that's our work for now. I wish you all a Merry Christmas! I'll send another email on my Christmas which should be your Christmas eve. 

-Elder Green

Ngaruawahia Week 8

Kia ora everyone! 

I have been crazy busy this last week and my companion and I have had trouble with actually getting out and finding new investigators! The whole town has been knocked in the last year at least once but we are so busy that we find very little time to go tract! We are constantly providing service for members and random people we contact and offer to help. I absolutely love the amount of hard work and service I am able to give! While I go out and do some of the service and figure out different ways to get the job done, I am quite often asked if I came from the farm. I tell them no, but I have learned quite a bit here and there since I have been in so many different places in my life! I was able to see the fruits of our labor yesterday at church because we had to mow a massive lawn on Saturday for a less active member that the Sister missionaries have been working with and because of what we all did, she came to church for the first time in a long time! And I never thought I would say this but I actually enjoyed mowing that lawn. We even had to go mow a lawn for another lady later that day who we met while walking the streets and I enjoyed mowing her lawn as well! But the sun and the constant work really took its toll on Sunday. I was exhausted and just beat. But the work never stops so we've been pushing through. 

The Temple lights here at the Hamilton Temple go into full effect on Tuesday and we will be able to go there at nights to talk to everyone and help out.  I have been helping the Temple grounds workers put up lights on the trees and bushes as service every week but I haven't seen them at night yet. Every other missionary that isn't in our zone or the zone next to us is quite jealous because working the lights is one of the greatest things! Everyone is looking forward to it and I can't wait to get out there too! I'm not quite sure what exactly to expect but I really hope that I can enjoy it and help bring others unto Christ. He really is the reason for the season and I cannot wait for the great opportunities that Christmas will bring. I only hope to be the best I can be as I teach others. 

Until next week,

Elder Green

This is a little blurb he sent in an email to Maren after she asked him how he was doing and what his favorite ice cream was:  

My time here is amazing! I really like it here and I am so happy I get to spend 2 more years here! My favorite is probably the 4 way ice cream that has vanilla-cookie dough-chocolate brownie-salted caramel. I like to make milkshakes out of it. Its kind of like Neapolitan with 4 different flavor squares.

Ngaruawahia Week 7

Kia ora everyone! 

This week was not very eventful at all. There wasn't much progress among our investigators and less actives. We taught and met a lot of people but nothing big happened. But we have kept hard at it. This last week was transfer week however so now I'm into my second transfer in the field and I am still in Ngaruawahia with my trainer Elder Suriben. But my area was put into a new district so now we have 2 new sets of Elders to get to know. We all get along quite nicely so far. 

Food wise it's fine, I don't love it but I don't hate it either. I'm definitely no longer very picky though. I struggle a little with some of the fish I've had to eat but they weren't bad. I'm only worried for if I go to Gisborne and have to eat fish all the time.. But I might never get sent there because of President Cummings. My investigators all have so much story and backstory that It would be so much writing to describe everything. I put in a few stories here and there but I might not be able to share it all until I get home and I can verbally tell. I write a lot down in my journal so I will be able to share a lot once I'm home! 

My mission president is a really cool guy! He's very kind and he really cares for all of his missionaries. His biggest emphasis is always on exact obedience. He pushes for that a lot! It's really good that he does though because one thing I've noticed about this mission so far is that it's a very disobedient/ casual mission. A lot of missionaries don't follow he rules to a T.  My last district and the new district I'm in is pretty good though. But yeah the President is a real good man. 

I also have more bad news about the transfer.. We still don't have a car! I can drive here and I have been driving quite a bit lately in other Elder's cars but Elder Suriben and I haven't been designated a car. It's a bit of a bummer just because we have a massive area to cover but we can only go in town because we can only bike and walk. We will hopefully get designated a car mid transfer but there are no promises. We will continue to press on no matter what and we will do our best with what we've got. But other than that we've got a good transfer ahead of us. 

We hope to progress 2 investigators to baptism this transfer and we are working hard for that. Brandon, who I think I mentioned before, is really progressing a lot and is a very faithful man. We can definitely see the hand of the Lord guiding him and us as we teach him the gospel. He loves church and he is now reading the Book of Mormon a second time. I have a lot of faith in him and I hope he chooses to be baptized soon. We have a few other investigators that will need a lot of help and progress before they can convert but we hope to work hard with them to be able to do that. 

With Christmas coming up, we are getting more and more involved with various activities. With Christmas Lights at the Hamilton Temple and Visitors Center, Elder Suriben and I will be out at the temple quite a bit the next few weeks to help with talking to people who have come to see the lights. I am looking forward to seeing the lights in full pretty soon and seeing how they compare to the Mesa Temple lights back home. But other than that, not much else to write this week! I wish you all the best as Christmas comes up and I hope to be able to send more pictures as Christmas gets closer! Have a good week! 

Elder Green

Ngaruawahia Week 6

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

Ngaruawahia Week 5

Kia ora everyone! 

This last week has been jam packed full of things we needed to do. We hardly visited any of our investigators and less actives! We had so much service to do for members and then for the neighboring area with the other elders in my district. The week went by so fast that it scares me for how fast the next couple years will go by. I really do appreciate all the service I have been able to do though. There was one lady who we did a bunch of heavy lifting and moving for who had never really heard of the church before. She ran into the sister missionaries in our area and they offered to have us come by. After we did about an hour's worth of work, we tried to pay us. We respectfully declined many times but she wanted to force us to take the money. We ended up having to leave and so we shook her hand and walked out but she tried to sneak the money into my hand as I shook her hand! We hope that we left a good imprint on her about what service is and what we as missionaries are trying to do for the community.

In another service this week, we had to do a lot of demolition. we had to pull out massive concrete fence posts but digging down enough until we could pull them out of the ground. It took a real long time and it was nearly backbreaking hard work but we did that and then demolished an old shed. While I was knocking all the posts down with a sledge hammer, some of the caved-in tin roof cut me pretty bad. I now have a massive cut across my wrist and it stings but I'm hoping it'll leave a mean scar. 

Other than service, there isn't much to tell about this week! We were able to meet with a few of our investigators but not too much progress was made this week. This next week will be quite busy as well so I will probably have more stories to tell but until then, arohanui,

Elder Green

Here's a tidbit from another email that was interesting:

Transfers are every 6 weeks. We get a phone call on the Tuesday of transfer week which tells us where we are going and then transfers usually take all day Thursday. It actually sounds like Elder Suriben will be here with me for the next 2 transfers and then I will still be in Nga for at least one transfer after he leaves the area. Training more or less takes 12 weeks. There's a 12 week program we are supposed to be following but Elder Suriben said that I'm already trained and a good missionary, now I just need experience. But after the 12 week, you have to "lead the area" which is essentially I have to be the senior companion. If I do well enough and the Lord desires it, I may end up training a missionary at the end of next transfer. But I doubt I could train so early, I don't know if I'm a good enough missionary for that! We actually had "Thanksgiving dinner" with the other Americans in the ward (2 families) on Saturday. Sis Hansen made chicken and mashed potatoes and other TG foods and finished with pumpkin desserts. She took a picture of us with our food and asked what page to post it to. So she posted it to Hamilton mission page I think or something like that? But it has us with a plate of food! 

Ngaruawahia 4

Kia ora everyone! It has been quite a busy week this last week. We hardly had any time for proselyting! We had more and more service to do (which is my favorite thing to do out here so I love it!) and we have even more service set for the next week. I kept quite busy with working with the other elders in my district trying to better the work in our areas. 

On Tuesday, we were all invited to a Tangi. A Tangi is essentially a Maori funeral but if you have more questions, Google it! Us missionaries were regarded as high ranking officials. Most of the people present were inactive members so they knew who we were and they treated us with so much respect! A lot of the speaking and different aspects of the Tangi were all in fluent Maori. It was a real good connection to my roots as my heritage through my father is Maori. 

Elder Suriben and I were able to progress many of our investigators this week. We have a baptism this Saturday and we hope to get our investigator Brandon to the waters of baptism soon as well. We had one investigator, Germaine, surprise us yesterday because he actually came to church! He hates big crowds and seemed very reluctant toward church attendance but he came and stayed for all of sacrament meeting which was really long due to the Primary Presentation. 

All in all, it was an awesome week! I hope to be able to share more next week and if anyone has specific questions, you are welcome to email me! 

Arohanui, 

Elder Green

Here's a little more that he said about the tangi in a personal email:

I also had the opportunity to attend a Tangi this week in Huntly. It was awesome! Most of the services and speaking was done full in Maori and it was amazing. The missionaries were loved and regarded as high ranking officials! They showed us heaps of respect and we were able to share testimony and teach them all about the Plan of Salvation. Most of the people there were just inactive members so they kind of knew. But we ate our meals with the whanau and we were given seats with the different men in charge. The marae was really cool there too. The whole experience was awesome. 

And one more little snippet in answer to a specific question I had about what he did on P-days:

We get picked up and then we go do a little shopping then we go to the stake center and just play basketball (mostly just basketball at the stake center! I'm actually getting pretty decent at ball. I still am bad in comparison to the others but I am getting better. I also go and play the grand piano in the chapel a lot and practice my piano) and email until about 5 or 6. Then back to work.

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.