First: I'm going to apologise, because you get no pictures because I forgot to bring my SD card converter...thing. :P Which also makes me sad, 'cause I had pictures of me with the Samoan version of our family (the Masiasomua's) and I was excited for you all to see them. Next week :)
It's been a week of....many emotions. Ha. Happy, sad, exciting, boring, relaxed, and stressed. All from many different things, and many experiences (obviously).
To begin: Wanna know about transfer news? Ha.... you're cute for thinking I'll tell you this early on ;)
MONDAY! Last week Sister Hobbs and I had a brilliant day with the Masiasomua family :) For the "p-day" side of things, President and Sister Masiasomua and Kahlii brought us out to lunch - delicious Mango curry :]. Fun fact: I think because I haven't had as many spicy things here as I do back home, I get more daring than I normally would... which results in my sinuses being very clear after eating insanely spicy things. (Okay. Not insanely. But... still more spicy than I'm used to.) But: Moral - apparently I miss spicy food. Anyhoo. Tangents. We had then planned to go out to Crystal Mountain! However, when we got there....there was a sign that said, "Open Tues-Sun, and on public holiday Monday." Well, that's sad. Ha. But - all goods, 'cause we went out to Arataki. And.... it's just beautiful :) There's a cultural center that we went to, which has look-out spots showing you all over Auckland, and a little historical "museum" type thing in the center, along with a little video (basically about saving the land). Beautiful though, and so fun :) I also got my first KIWI CHILDREN'S BOOK. ALL the happy. It's about a little kiwi bird whose mum tells him to watch over the egg for a few hours while she goes out, because it will soon become either his little brother or sister! When she leaves, the egg begins hatching, and 2 feet pop out - which results in the kiwi chasing the egg all around, until they finally end up back in their little cave, and the mum returns. SO DANG CUTE. All the happy!
That night we also had a Family Home Evening with the Masiasomua's, which was fun because....we also received transfer news while we were at their house. Aka: They got to see the nervous-wreck-anxious side of me! Woo! Ha.
So..... guesses? Ha. Jk...
I'm still in my dear Henderson :) But.... dear Sister Hobbs has now run off to Whangarei! She's finally up north! Haha. And finally getting to experience "what people think New Zealand actually looks like" rather than ...being in South Auckland. Which, I've heard, is pretty much just opposite of what everyone pictures New Zealand to be. Haha.
My new companion?
SISTER ANITEMA. Ohhhhhhhh how I love her. She came out the same time as Sister Hobbs, so they hit their one year mark at the end of this month (Dad's birthday, actually!). It's crazy how fast things go. But she's lovely. She's 1/2 Tongan, and from Melbourne Australia. —So, my first non-white companion! And from the sounds of it, I'm her first "white companion that actually understands her humor, instead of islander humor which can be rather different." Haha. Once again, I'm sorry for there being ....no picture. But... next week :)
So - TUESDAY was my last day with Sister Hobbs. We dropped by the Masiasomua's to FINALLY pick up our bikes...and for Sister Hobbs to say goodbye to Jason and Jayla (because they were already in bed when we got the news). We visited the Gaitaus, met a new lady who likes the idea of Bible study, and had dinner with Ivan. He had a really hard time with the idea of Sister Hobbs leaving :( But...I guess that's why we're also switched around so that people aren't allowed to get attached to us. :P Ha.
This night we also had our FIRST meeting with our new Ward Mission Leader!!! Ha. During which we had to tell Bishop and Brother Tuatonga that Sister Hobbs would now be leaving ;) Lols. We also had the fun challenge of figuring out how to get Sister Hobbs all PACKED. Why? Well, because rules have now changed.... so, missionaries going up north now take the bus. And you're only allowed 2 bags, and the 3rd you (or the mission) has to pay for. Well...there's a lot of things we collect for purposes of study and whatnot, yeah? Yeah. So..... that was an adventure in packing :) Haha. But we did it, and by the end of the night Sister Hobbs kept saying, "I'm going to have to request you to come help me pack when I go home...so I can fit everything in!" (Thank you my Ottley sisters, for helping me learn to pack things tightly, and ROLLED!!)
WEDNESDAY was.... Transfers! I got to go up with the sisters and help meet with my dear Sister Anitema, AND I got to see my first MTC companion (Sister Lott), my mum trainer (Sister O'Reilly), AND my daughter trainee (Sister Boiteux) :) OH how I've missed all of them. So... it was nice.
We headed back to the area, got Sister Anitema settled in, and basically I just showed her around a bit. We had Ward Council that night, which was perfect - getting to introduce her to all the main peeps from the get go!
THURSDAY started with a lot of people ...not being home, but also resulted in a blessing of meeting a little man named Ron. In the end he really wasn't super ineterested, but we did have a lovely conversation with him and we hope to see him again one day. Basically...this day was filled with just meeting people on the street because they were the main ones that were actually around! We dropped by the mall on our way home for dinner, so that Ssiter Anitema could fill a perscription she needed... only to find that they wouldn't, because it was for a "repeat" perscription, and it wasn't the same pharmacy.... but - probs being: She couldn't go to the old pharmacy anymore, 'cause, well ...it's now in a different zone! Ha. Anyhoo. So that took a bit of sorting out, and resulted in a bit of stress (for mum/ family. Not so fun fact: Sister Anitema deals with minor seizures and many different... hormonal imbalance type things in her life. So, she HAS to have this specific medication to take at certain times during each month so she doesn't have seizures! Fun times!And, well, she was out of this medication... and needed to be taking it that day. So... the stress was REAL, and I asked her if there was something at Warehouse we could get to help her calm down. We purchased some chocolate (Kinder surprise!) and a scale.... #Ironic #WeKnow Haha. Sister Anitema had a glass scale in her last area, left it on accident, and doesn't think the sisters there will be ....willing enough to actually send it back to her this way. Ha..... #Struggles
WithPreviousCompanions #GladICanMakeHerHappyAgain
We made our way home, and began to have a little dinner. Sister Anitema then went to open her scale, having propped it up on the couch as she looked at something else. Well..... the scale then fell. On her foot. Corner down. Heavy glass, corner down on a foot... let's just say, it's not plesant. So to say the least she couldn't super walk on her foot without wanting to scream the rest of the night. So we stayed in and started organising ourselves a bit better in the area and getting to know each other.
FRIDAY, we were grateful for weekly planning - as sister Anitema could walk on her foot, but.... really couldn't put a shoe on. :P #ImportantThings And then - well, it became even more of a blessing, because... since she didn't have that medication yet (which is like a "preventative" medication), she started seizing a bit. And it ended up getting to the point that she instead had to take the heavier version of her medication ....and just sleep. Not gonna lie - its a little terrifying when your companion seizes and you don't super know what to do! Also when she then starts getting tired from said medication and ...just sleeps. ...So peacefully that you constantly look at her to make sure she's still breathing! (I assume that's what it's like when you're a mum and your kid is sick. And you constantly make sure they're actually breathing. Granted - I know I've done that with probably all the grandkids at some point or another too. So.... ya know. Whatevs. Terrifying. Haha.) But our dear Zone Leaders (now Elders Saulo and Nielsen) are wonderful. They came and picked up Sister Anitema's perscription paper and her insurance card, and got permission to go pick up her medicine from the other zone. Brilliant. When they returned, Sister Anitema perked up a bit with the new one, and we continued planning for the week on how to better organize our area.
So - fun fact. Sister Anitema is a PLANNER. She makes lists, she sets goals, and she COLOR CODES THINGS. (Also like me, she stress cleans!) We're going to get along nicely :) #WeAlreadyAre #BCF (Best Companions Forever). Why is this so exciting to me, you ask? Well.... it's helping the BOTH of us to get to know the area better - because, we all know how great I am with directions. Haaaaaa. #Wyoming #Audrey #AllTheLove
SO - our area is now split into sections on the map, each one has it's own color and area name, and we're making lists of all the people that live in each area that we visit. Once again - pictures next week. Ha. 'Cause it's going to be BEAUTIFUL once we get it all up on our wall :D Yes, we're printing out a large map today to see it all out visually. #VisualLearnerProblems #SuperExcited
SATURDAY was spent mostly in the flat as well — other than a dinner appointment at our WML''s house - and they so lovingly came and picked us up, because, well, Sister Anitema wouldn't have to wear shoes at their house! A nice night, and a good time outside the flat. (It's funny how you don't realise truly how exciting it is to be outside the flat until... you can't be.) #OppositionInAllThings
And SUNDAY.
Sunday was an interesting day. Really, quite lovely at the beginning - visiting the little old lady Sister Hobbs and I had met Tuesday (her name is Crysta Bell) –unfortunately, her daughter ...locks her into her house so she "can't leave without someone knowing" – so sad, really. Ha. But we're hoping to go by again soon when her daughter actually is home so we can get to know her better and do a little Bible study :)
We had church, and Sister Tuatonga taught our gospel principles class. OH. And we had three non-members come to church! Two of them with a returning less-active, and the third being one of our member's nieces (her name is Grace... I think I've probably mentioned her before....) :) OH the brilliance. We're excited to get to know them all a bit better, as well as meeting MORE people to teach and bring with us in continuing weeks :)
We had dinner this night at Sister Wati's. She lives out on Mountain Road (aka: out in the "Henderson Valley" part of our area we don't get to go to very often, 'cause... it would kind of require a car, or insanely strong leg muscles and a lot of patience in biking forever. It's basically like what up north looked like. And it made me happy to be in the bush again :D !)
We had a lovely dinner with Sister Lauren Wati, her and her cousin Sharon, and a friend she invited over named, Emmaline. *A private discussion in the other room afterwards left my companion and I washing dishes together, which gave us the opportunity to get to know each other even better. And I can tell you that even though I've only been with her a few days, she's one of the BEST SISTERS I'VE MET. TRUTH. I'm SO excited to be working with her. Also, fun fact: Sister Anitema is an ACTRESS. Yup :) I love my little theatre people I keep running into here. Blessings. #WeUnderstandEachOther
So, new experiences, new things to learn. By listening to what the spirit tells us to do, we KNOW we can strengthen this area.
The SHINNING MOMENT on Sunday night? A lesson with the Donnaldson's. And: While we were there, they had a cousin(?) stop in who wasn't a member... and she actually sat in on our lesson. #Blessings #Miracles
#SunAfterTheStorm#
I also laugh, because this night the Donnaldson's got to see the OCD side of me when I layed out the cards for the matching game we were playing with them. They didn't lay out how I wanted them to (with an even number in the rows!), so... Sister Anitema helped me fix it to work, and Brother Donnaldson just laughed at this crazy side of me. Haha.
So it's been a good week. Slow in some ways, but also good. Sister Anitema's foot is on the mend - she can officially wear a shoe now without wanting to cry in pain. Her foot is still... rather bruised, but not as bad as it was ;) ...Ice packs, Elevation Oil, Redmond Clay, and Silver Gel work miracles ;) Haha. Yes, I've already converted her to all the crazy things. And I love it. She's just wonderful. This transfer is going to be a TRANSFER OF MIRACLES. I can FEEL it :) Ah - and another fun fact: Elder Garth (in charge of flats and bikes and whatnot) stopped by our flat a couple nights ago to drop by Sister Anitema's bike — and he saw how BIG our area really is.... from our map that doesn't actually even show all the way out to the edge of our boundary. Ha. So we'll see if we get a car? He did say there was an extra car in Whangarei now... so... we'll see ;) It would be nice. Not for everyday - but just at least for rainy days. And when we don't have enough time to get from one side of the area to the other....
OH! AND WE GOT THE MARCH ENSIGN! And I read your little contribution in the marriage article mum, and it made me really happy :) And everyone in my zone was like, "Woah!! you're mum's in the Ensign?" And I said, "Yes, yes she is!" I'm a very proud little daughter ;)
Life is grand. The mission is insanely wonderful, and.... I hit my 9-months this week. Wha? And RIAH only has a week left! WHAT IS THIS INSANITY!???Give her an extra few hugs from me, Loni! Tell her I miss her and I'll see her in 9-months ;)
All the LOVE. And the HAPPINESS. JOY, PEACE and LOVE :)
I'll send pictures next week. FOR REALS.
Arohanui,
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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