WOMEN'S CONFERENCE. It was brilliant! I finally got to watch it yesterday (Sunday. Ha.) And it was wonderful. And I'm pretty much just jealous of everyone at home who has now watched General Conference, and I haven't.... But! NEXT WEEK! I'm waiting ... patiently. But only patiently because I have no other choice but to be patient!
It's been a good, weird, painful week. Haha. "Painful" in the sense of my back acting up - and my foot struggling in life. "Good" in the way of people we've been able to meet with and the members that we're becoming better friends with - and "Weird" in the way of just the combination of the two making it weird. Haha.
Things this week: I got my first New Zealand sunburn! Yay...?! Ha. It really wasn't that bad though - but Sister Pointer, who is indeed also very fair skinned, didn't get as burned as me... so - #mylife. But it was all for a good cause because we got to do a ZONE SERVICE PROJECT! We helped out in a potential investigator's garden for the other sister's in our district. Her name is Sharon, and she has a GORGEOUS and HUGE garden/path area in her backyard that's been all grown-over and needed some help. So we got to garden. And I found some spiders that I could have done without seeing in my life. But all is well! (I still haven't witnessed a Weta—NZ insect, so we're all good there. *knocks on wood* Look them up. They're gross.) And btw: Forget-me-nots are EVERYWHERE here - and I love them. :)
Tuesday continued in Matauri Bay, driving around with our dear Sister Laura Himiona. The funny quote from her in the day was, "Hey Sisters, - Is your car open? I'll have Nevaeh put the car seat in for Hope." Me: "Oh! I'll get the keys!" Laura: "Of course it's not unlocked - you're American." (The differences between New Zealanders and Americans) ;)
Wednesday we FINALLY caught up with a guy that I've been trying to catch for WEEKS. He's been a potential investigator for...who knows how long, among the sisters. And he's one that's truly strengthened my testimony in the way that "planting seeds and even just VISITING people truly DOES WORK." His name is James Puru, and he told us stories of how when the sisters first started visiting he'd basically run away - or tell them he was busy, and such like that. The last sisters that talked with him got a few lessons in, but he was put off when they asked about baptism - too fast for him. But now he's told us he's ready - but also said straight out it's going to take him a while until he can commit to baptism, because he wants to do it right! He's golden. :) And I'm so excited to keep teaching him. It's also quite brilliant, because Sister Pointer KNOWS HIS DAUGHTERS. One of them, Aroha, is a member in the Owahau Branch, and the other is investigating... They're all wonderful. And there's some great connections that's helping this along. :)
I ALSO decorated my new planner. :) A "Stay By The Tree" theme from April's conference. With the scripture reference of Moroni 10:32. It's a good one!
"Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him. ... Love God with all your might, mind and strength. ... That by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ." —Moroni 10:32
Thursday. LOQUAT. It's a fruit. I'm honestly not sure if that's how you spell it. But... that's what I got for ya since I can't look it up. Ha But they're really quite delicious. I'm a fan. Kinda citrus-y, but also more like... kiwi-y? No. I don't know. It's hard to explain. Little, yellow, ovals and they have pits inside. Sometimes an impressive amount of pits for how small they are! And I've DEFINITELY eaten lamb. Haha. A lot. I've probably had it more than chicken at this point in time!
Friday was Zone Training, and SO great. All about Accountability, Planning and Goal setting. But - Friday was also a struggle for me. As.... my back has been struggling lately. And Friday it was just in pain. And it was making me exhausted. And I lost it a little. And then Elder Shannon (my new district leader) gave me a blessing at the end of Training. And it was everything I needed to hear - from being able to gain strength to continue on, to gaining knowledge and the answers that will come to me as I keep going. It was brilliant. It calmed me. But - I also was still in pain. So, we called Sister Beckstead (who finishes her mission this month, by the way.... it's going to be sad without her. But the new sister nurse I'm sure will also be just lovely.:) ) And she said to "Take some ibuprofen, get a hot waterbottle and lay on it for an hour to get the inflamation down and settle it." ...So we did. We dropped by The Warehouse to get a hot waterbottle on our way back from Zone Training, went back to the flat and I did just that. We ended up stayin' in for the rest of the day - just giving my back a rest because... struggles. And it ended up helping a lot I feel. I've been up and out since then and it's gaining more strength with different stretches that I'm now getting MUCH better at doing..... #slacker.
But like I said - the work moves on. Saturday we were able to connect with one of our potentials who I haven't seen in AGES. Because... he's never home. Ken is his name, and we found him while we were out talking with people on the streets. He was at a picnic table preparing his flax to be weaved into a bag. :) He's great. And so creative, and we're hoping to run into him again soon - when he actually has a phone that's not broken/lost... Ha. The funny part about this, and a quote that will never be forgotten is "Cuddles are good" ...Yup. I forgot that Ken is one who we haven't figured out how to tell that as Sisters we're technically not allowed to hug men.... and he just goes in for the hug before you realize what's happening. And this is what he said to us as we went to give him a handshake. So, friends - "cuddles are good" Hahaha.... Obstacles we'll be working through in the future. :P
Saturday night also brought me back to my old days of getting lost and calling Dad, saying "I'm here - tell me how to get _______." Remember those times Dad? Haha... Yup. Except my "Dad" here in Paihia is now Elder Clements. We were trying to find a member's home - the Dicksons. And..... we were helplessly lost. I called Elder Clements (who we'd already called once earlier, looking for another home -- that one we found) and after trying to explain it for a second - he just stopped and said, "Okay. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to go back to your car, drive to the top of Opua, and Sister Clements and I will come meet you there and lead you to the Dickson's home." ..>Hahahaha... #mylife. #directionallychallenged. But they got us there, and it was a lovely night. :)
Sunday: WOMEN'S CONFERENCE. I've already mentioned my love for this day. But it truly was just so wonderful. I wish this happened more than every six months. Really. It lifted and helped me and was just so wonderful. A favourite quote is definitely, "God didn't design us to be sad!" --- TRUTH. He designed us to be happy. He designed us to learn, grow, and gain experience. And that's what we're here to share as missionaries. That God wants us all to be happy. :) ALL the love. Hope and faith = confidence. TRUTH.
Anyhoo. My thoughts are just going to become bullet points now. As I'm running out of time... (Holidays are a struggle at the library with all the billions of children using the computers...) But I love you all. The work is real, I'm so grateful for it - regardless of the hard things we go through, and the for honestly truthful homesickness I've felt a bit of this week (because of our normal General Conference traditions). - I will say, that I'm a bit shocked by the fact that it hasn't really hit me until now. But I know that as I learn to lose myself MORE in the work, it'll all get better. :) Life is grand. The work is real, and I'm so grateful for it. :)
MUCH LOVE! HAVE A BEAUTIFUL WEEK!
Arohanui,
Sister Ottley :)
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