Kia Ora!!

Kia Ora!
Apologies this week for the late email. Due to Labor Day, our dear Library is closed. Therefore, Sister Pointer and I are sharing a computer at the Paihia Chapel. Fun times! Ha. It's really not much different from jumping on and off computers every 30 minutes at the Library though! ;)
I hope all is well at home! It seems like the family Halloween Party was a BLAST!  Love all the costumes, fear factor-ness, and all the little stories that came with it. :) So exciting to hear about the fam - and I agree with the kids on the donut bobbing thing! I can't believe you dropped that one this year! Haha.... Just 'cause I'm not there to go up against Cayden anymore. ;) ;) Was Cade's costume one of the Beatles? Hah... Him and his long hair. Can't get over it!!
The last few weeks have FLOWN by. Wanna know what's weird? Transfers will be NEXT WEEK. What is this life? I'm almost done with 3 transfers. I don't understand. (P.S. Did I ever mention last week that I hit 4 months? Weird. Sauce.)
Fun facts and updates about my life with bugs this week: Bug bites are supposed to turn into scabs, and then - ya know, generally go away pretty fast after that, right? Yup. That's not a thing here. I think my skin is still adjusting to the humidity and therefore, they just soak up all the humidity and never go away. Fun times!  Also: Probably too much info. But, it's a struggle. So many bug bites!!
This week has been interesting though. Sister Pointer and I have both struggled  with the homesickness life, in all honesty. But: The thing that I've learned (and relearned) from this is this: PRAYER is truly a place of comfort. A place of just being able to talk and share ANYTHING YOU WANT with your dear Father in Heaven. I also had a fun little experience one night of insane "lonliness" in a sense of getting down, starting my prayer, just pausing and feeling these words of "How are you doing tonight Sister Ottley?" ....And then I broke down. But in a good way! He's truly there for each one of us. Our Father in Heaven and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, are THERE FOR US. And they speak to our hearts in a way that they know we will understand. Life is good. :) Even amid trial and struggles – we can get through anything with them on our side!
It definitely is hard at times to keep yourself motivated. But that's what music is for in my life. And our mission vision. And just finding things – yes, like hedgehogs and whatnot! It makes life all better. :)
Monday though. MAN. We officially have a NEW INVESTIGATOR. PARTY!! Miracles. Her name is Kayla.  And she's actually been a potential who we've tried to catch a few times until now – and we finally got her! :) And we're teaching her this week, and we're SO EXCITED. The cool thing about Kayla? When the previous Sisters (O'Reilly and Fornaro) first found her, they taught her and her boys about prayer. And what have they been doing? PRAYING. She says they pray almost every night, and her little 6-year-old, Kingston, will remind her when they haven't in a while. TOO CUTE. And I'm just so excited to teach her and the boys. :) Hopefully more to come next week! :)
We also had a really nice lesson with Tunisia this week. She's strong, and we're excited to continue in sharing with her. Because she RECOGNIZED the SPIRIT this week! She noted and told us about the warm feeling she was having. Greatness. :)
Sad note of the week: Pearl probably won't be getting baptized this week anymore.... But – no worries. We will continue. Because she definitely still has a desire and reads by herself. She's just hard to catch at her Nan's house, because that's where we teach her. We're excited to continue though!
Thursday we were lucky enough to have interviews with President and Sister Balli. :) They're just so wonderful. And you feel so loved and great with them always. President sees "into you" better than you realize – it's a little freaky. Haha. And he saw into me, telling me I'm too hard on myself, and that I need to be less self-critical. I honestly didn't ever think of things that way – until that moment. It's the perfectionist side of me that drives me insane sometime. Haha. But all is well. :) He gave me some lovely things to study and all is well. :)
Friday we were in Matauri Bay, and we were able to catch up with Sonny and TeAniwa Randell. A SUPER newlywed couple, and MAN they're cute! They live out in the middle of nowhere on a little farm though – so that was fun to find!  #adventuresonthedirtroads. But they're super sweet. Pretty recently just moved into the Matauri Branch, so we're excited to get to know them better. :)
Saturday was the beginning of the Labor Day weekend – starting off with a HUGE concert in Paihia with "The Black Seeds" headlining — someone will have to tell me if they're any good? I was too focused on the RAIN everywhere else around me. Ha. And laughing at all the people who were SO into the concert and DRENCHED. Because really – it rained SO HARD, and pretty much all day Saturday!
We also did a bit of tracting in Haruru Falls Saturday. And there were some.... interesting people we met. Mostly people that just told us to go away. But, here's the thing. Yes, we get rejected – that's fine. Whatever. The thing that drives me insane is when people go off on a rant/lecture of "why your religion is wrong" – and then proceed to tell you the "history that you haven't read about" and "why you don't know what you're talking about" ....And then as you politely tell them "thank you for talking with us" and ask if "there is anything you need, or if you know anyone that may need help or service" – they tell you off! That it's "not about helping – it's about walking with them." ...And continuing on that essentially you need to respect people. ...I'm sorry. Are you being any kind of respectful to me right now? Nope. No you are not. My apologies. Rant over. I have no problem with tracting. It's honestly not always the most effective way of doing things in life, but it's good. There's just certain moments when you're sick of people telling you you're wrong, when you know so clearly and full-heartedly that you are RIGHT.
This lady we talked to did make me think though. About how we can better listen to the spirit and figure out different ways of phrasing things for people of different religions – because how something is phrased can truly change how someone talks to you.
Sunday turned into a day of Facsimilies. Ha. Ya know the Egyptian drawings in Abraham? Well, President Jon Smith (counselor in our Stake presidency, and in our Paihia branch) studied them in school (BYU-H) and continues now. He does CLASSES about them. SO cool. And so he taught us a little about them when we went over to their house for lunch Sunday afternoon. So fun to watch him get all excited about teaching us a few things! (He actually reminds me a LOT of Casey.)
As for my birthday... Letters from people. Or drawings. That I can look at. :) Or "Open when" letters — tell the girls that this was BRILLIANT, and I love them – love love love! They make all things better in life, always.
AND. NETFLIX GILMORE? WHAT... Okay. I'm excited for this. There will be MUCH marathoning in 14 months! :)
Anyhoo. Life is good.  Prayer is brilliant, and I don't know where I would be without it. Also: Ponderize of the week: Alma 32:41. All about FAITH - and of course IN A VISUAL WAY, because that's how I am. I'm thinking I may start making visual representations of my ponderize scriptures as well. ..,We'll see how much time I can make for that. ;) (HA!)
I love and miss you all. The gospel is SO true. There is no doubt in my mind. Even with the people that stop us, quiz us, and tell us why we're wrong—the gospel is true. I feel it in my life every day. There is always some little miracle that will bring a smile to your face, if you just look for it. It makes me laugh when people mention or ask "why we're so happy" –and that's just it. It's because of the gospel. :)

I hope you have a most wonderful week, and press forward!

Arohanui,Sister Mckenzie Ann Ottley"But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life." —Alma 32:41