First, to get a few things out of the way and out of my head:
My blue [lightweight travel] towel — I keep forgetting to mention this. Fun fact, it's actually great. At first I kept thinking "yeah...I may be getting something that will dry me off a bit faster" - but then I realize how lucky I am to have a towel that DRIES SO FAST. So... winner winner!
That leads me to: "I solemnly swear I will never again complain about something 'taking too long to dry in the dryer." Why? Because we don't have one. Haha. We hang dry all our clothes. Which also brings me to: "I AM SO GRATEFUL WE HAVE A WASHING MACHINE!" Oh goodness me.
THIS WEEK. I have become better friends with the members of our branches - particularly with the kids. Haha. The Matauri Bay Branch is half made up of two families, lets be real - the Branch President's and Brother Tua's family (which, by the way - you can see the BEAUTIFUL hand-crafted necklace he made for me and Sister O'Reilly). And they are all wonderful. This week on Monday, we were able to be part of a FHE with the Himiona (President of Matauri) family and the Nordstrom family (another family in the branch). And between the two families, there's 12 kids! I felt right at home! Haha. We played a few games and had a message and it was grand ol' fun! :)
Handcrafted Necklaces
That night, the STL's (Sister Training Leaders) also joined us in our area, for the beginning of.... TRADE-OFFS! Can you believe it? I've been out long enough to have done trade-offs! (Aka: When Sister O'Reilly and I trade companions with the STL's for a day.) So, on Tuesday, Sister Hauglid (from Sandy, Utah) was my companion. And she's wonderful, and so happy, and uplifting, and my age. :)
Honestly, before the day came, I was terrified to be away from Sister O'Reilly, because I've gotten so used to how we teach together, and also because: my knowledge of the area and my sense of direction? Haha....I think if you know me, you know why I laugh at this. :) But it turned out JUST fine. I know where things are in Paihia better than I think - and it was also helpful being with Sister Hauglid because of the fact that my area is also where she started her mission off a year and a half ago. :) — Yes, she goes home NEXT WEEK. Insane. So she was able to help me decipher where to go and the best way to go about it.
She also helped me so much. We all know I struggle with confidence - just in the way of talking to people and such. But one thing that she would say to me all day was, "Give yourself permission to be confident," and Sister Heal, who is Sister Hauglid's "normal" companion, always says, "Fake it till you make it" - something that I've always had a negative feeling toward of sorts. But, thinking of it in the way of making yourself have that confidence, even if you don't feel it's completely there —that's when I've realized I actually can SPEAK WORDS. Ha. I don't know if that actually makes sense — but it's true. I keep giving myself permission, and I know it will keep working within me!
Sister O'Reilly, Me, Sister Heal, & Sister Hauglid on Trade-offs
This week we also had the pleasure of meeting with a new investigator, Rozanne. She's an older lady (73-ish) and wasn't, before now, open to learning much about the church - but we're working on her. This week we told her we sang at the resthome, and she came to listen and sing with us! And after - she invited us to lunch at her house with her and her husband, Peter. They're so lovely. And just happy and have had SUCH COOL LIVES. They've literally traveled the world - partly by boat, and lived out on the sea for what sounds like quite a few years. Peter was part of a big sea voyage, and is even in a book! They're just incredible, and we love hearing their stories and great things each time we meet. Another fun thing: Sister O'Reilly mentioned she played guitar back home, to which Rozanne said "Oh! I have one - would you like to take it while you're here and play it? I never play it anymore and it should be used.." Sooooo we have a guitar now :) HAPPY DAY! And we're planning on jamming today for P-day with Elder Reinen. :) Elder Reinen LEAVES NEXT WEEK. :( Sad face. (Our little Texan Zone Leader.) :)
Sister O'Reilly and I have come up with chords and a few different ways of playing some hymns, and Elder Reinen is going to bring his Children's songbook today (which has chords) and we're going to sing and play together, and we're just so excited. It's been a while since I've picked up a guitar, but I've missed it, and I've already learned a few cool picking things from Sister O'Reilly!
Other things this week = Tracting adventures. Tracting, in all honesty, isn't always super effective. It works out better when people have referrals for you - but all is well! The work must go on. (Aw... just like in Theatre!) So, this week we started off tracting along Matauri Bay road, down by the actual bay. (Matauri Bay road is...really long.) Here we found many long and steep driveways. Haha. But all is good. We made it into an adventure - and even though we found "no one" interested there, it was fun to get to know each other a bit more, and also: an opportunity to find SHELLS. Because, see, we're not allowed on the beaches... so where I find shells is along roadsides. And I've found some pretty great ones. ALL the excitement. You've never seen a shell until you've seen New Zealand shells. The "smallest" one I've found is the equivilant of a "HUGE" one in Bear Lake. It's great. And also 10x thicker!
Now, for successful tracting: In Paihia we met a new potential investigator this week! Her name is Halisa, and she just had a new little baby, and was waiting for her partner to get back from his training this week - he's in the army, and hadn't met his new little girl yet! We were so excited for him! Aaaand - we became friends! Hopefully more to come next week on her and her little ones. :)
Interesting thing of the week: Chris. Ha. Ahhhh Chris. He's a man we met after getting some ice cream Friday night last week. While Sister O'Reilly was waiting for me to get my ice cream, she had started talking to him- by the time I got there, he had found out we were missionaries and began lecturing us about religion. (Yay!) All the good times. He's a very strong man of "fact" - and went on a SUPER CRAZY LONG SCHPEAL about how our "beliefs have no fact or evidence to them" and how "the only fact there is, is on the walls of Luxor" where something is inscribed about the "original Christ-figure" - and how there's been "so many different Christ-figures after this original one" ...and then continued to tell us that he believes in Santa Clause more than Jesus Christ. ...Also: He believed in God - but also science - but thinks Darwin is crazy. And continued to explain to us the why of all the things. ...Yes, thank you. (We want to leave.) We started to ask if he'd ever read the Book of Mormon, to which he responded "Oh, I speak 22 different languages and I've read over 50 different bibles, including yours, and there's no evidence to any of them." Dear sir, CLEARLY you weren't reading ANY of them for the right reason. And how do you know that your "FACTS" you get from the INTERNET *cough* are "correct" ???? ... *sigh* LIFE. So....To sum it up, we were rather EXHAUSTED after talking to him this night. EXHAUSTED.
But: We learned from this man. When we got back to the car, we realized how much our faith had been strengthened because NONE of what he said mattered. We KNOW what we believe, and we KNOW that Jesus Christ died for our sins - that He IS the Saviour, and that He lives and loves each one of us. We know that the message we share, and religion in anyone's life is important - because it gives us all something to work toward. Living by the facts of man alone isn't going to get you anywhere - because what's the point if you don't pay gratitude to the one who STARTED IT ALL?
Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways :) And sometimes those ways are just what we need. Really and truly. It's just great. :)
I have also officially hit ONE MONTH of being IN THE FIELD. WHAAAA? Crazy things. :) And exciting things. And just plain weird. Haha.
And then...this brings us to yesterday.
Sunday is always a wonderfully special day. I've always loved it (okay - maybe not always... there was a point in life that church was just boring) but I enjoy it even more now. It's just uplifting and great - and especially Fast and Testimony meeting. There's a boy named Ezra in the Paihia Branch who is preparing to leave on his mission later on this month, and he went to the temple this past weekend. Goodness seeing this boy grow week by week is crazy cool. He's going to be SUCH an amazing missionary, and we're just SO excited for him. Like - over the moon excited!!
After church, we were able to stop in and see a few people including Tunisia (Ta-nee-see-ah)! She's adorable. And still very pregnant. But due this week! And we got to actually talk with her Partner, Tim, too! We have SO MUCH HOPE in this couple. Because we started off teaching her about the Plan of Salvation my FIRST week here - and because of the whole thing of this is their first child (a little girl!) we know that she's going to read more in the pamphlet we gave her and just look at her little girl and just want it all. We're SO KEEN.
Life is great. But also hard. Ha. This is why I love emailing, Cause I see how great our weeks really are. We actually struggled quite a bit this week, having moments of not knowing where to go or what to do again - thus, resulting in the final bit of our night last night.
Our DEAR Sister Pamela White. At the end of church, I think she could tell we were a bit run down, and she invited us over for dinner to break our fast. After dinner, we wanted to help her clean up - but she said "oh, no no - it's the sabbath. It's all fine." And then, upon finding out we had no set appointments last night, she asked if we would like to watch a movie.
So - lets be real for a minute here, this may not have been the most effective use of our time as missionaries. However, I truly know it was something we needed. Pamela White is most definitely our angel of the week (...also every week). So, we watched 17 Miracles. And it boosted our spirits and made us realize, "Dang. We have it easy. Lets get to work!"
Side note... I ATE FISH (flounder) FROM THE BONE YESTERDAY. And dang. It was good.
I also ATE MUSCLES. (Like - the seafood kind.) Kind of salty - kind of slimy, but oddly enough I liked it. Haha. Good times.
Life is just wonderful, and the work keeps moving - but only if we all do our part to keep it going that way.
I TRULY know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who leads and guides us in every which way we need to go. I know he listens to our questions and pleadings, and blesses us with angels along the way. I also know that ALL of you are those angels for me. Though I struggle with confidence in talking with people that I don't know, I know the Lord has helped me in so many ways and will continue to help me build that confidence and motivate me as I become more diligent. Life is beautiful, the gospel is a BLESSING, and even though I really truly and honestly miss home a lot right now - I know this is where I need to be. I know there are people to find, and I know, more than ever, that I WANT THEM TO HAVE WHAT I HAVE. The thing that I have been blessed with my entire life, and honestly have taken for granted for most of it.
I love you all. :)
MUCH AROHA,
Sister Mckenzie Ann Ottley
"Never give up on anyone. And that includes not giving up on yourself."
—President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
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