THE WEEK BEGAN with the usual –MONDAY emails, printing photos, and shopping. However, we did get some news to "mix up" our week a bit! "Stern talkings" from President Balli. Not directly to us, but we got a text from our District Leader with the hashtag of #PresidentJustRebukedUsInDistri
Anyhoo. Monday night we had a visit with I. :) It had been a bit since we had seen him, so it was good. Really good, 'cause we had received a message from him the previous Saturday, basically saying he wouldn't be at church because of some disturbing things he'd found out about the church and he couldn't bring himself to come. — Aka, these are the moments where you just want to yell at Satan for pulling out stupid things to throw off the minds of the people you love so much! Anyhoo. We visited, and he shared with us what was going on. Apparently there was a man up north somewhere that was caught and is being put on trial for... attacking 13 young girls. :( But - the part about it that really threw Ivan through a loop (and is once again a good reminder that "satan can get into the mind of ANYONE") is that this man was associated with the Church – some sort of higher leader, like a bishop or something I believe. Either way, I just came to us saying, "How could this man go and do something like THAT, when he's a MEMBER OF THE CHURCH, and supposed to be leading these people around him and representing this gospel?"
Honestly, I don't remember much about what we said. But - I DO know that the ponderise scripture I had chosen last week was TRULY sent from Heavenly Father—along with the verse before—both which I'd actually chosen to write down as my personal ponderize scripture.
34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.
35 Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice until thee; yea I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen. —2 Nephi 4:34-35
I shared that with I, and Sister Hobbs and I talked with him about how Satan can truly get to anyone, and that's why we have to continually be building ourselves up. I also shared with him that I know it can be hard to get through times like that when people know you're associated with the Church and so they judge you, based on the actions of other people (relating it to the Seminary principal at LP that was discovered to be having an affair with a student when I was in high school). So... it's interesting how puzzle pieces of life continually fit into place of "why I experienced that one event at that particular time" — so that it could come into play in my life NOW, and I'd be able to share it with someone else in need. – If that makes sense at all. I just LOVE that everything happens for a reason! Even if that thing doesn't really make sense until 5 or 6 years later! All the experiences and challenges we have help us so we can become stronger and help others along our way!
The other brilliant thing about this night with I? Our Sister Training Leaders had just returned from South Auckland, and brought with them a letter that Sister Gila had written to Ivan. Thank goodness we remembered and brought it to his house that night, because when we got back home Ivan texted saying that Sister Gila (she was one of the original Sisters that started teaching Ivan) had given him this KILLER quote....
"When Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future, because he has none!" —Author Unkniwn
So... The Holy Ghost works in miraculous ways. :) There's no way Sister Gila could have known what was going on in Ivan's life to know that he would have needed that letter from her and that little quote at that EXACT MOMENT. It's just brilliant! I love it :)
After Monday night with Ivan and the Spirit that testified to us all that we can overcome anger and be comforted by the Spirit, TUESDAY was filled with MIRACLES!! We stuck to our plans that we had made Monday night, as close as we could ('cause, sometimes it's difficult without a car), and even though most of the actual people we had down to visit weren't home, there were OTHER PEOPLE placed in our path around the areas we were sent to. Therefore, we not only met, but surpassed the goals we had set for ourselves that day! #Brilliant #FeltSoGood
Mainly, I think the "sweet-AS" part of the day began with the fact that we thought we had District Meeting, when in reality.... we apparently didn't. HaHa. So... therefore we had nothing planned for the morning! But –blessings come through the Spirit to those that want to teach! Sister Hobbs texted one of our potentials, Vale (Vah-lay), who we've been trying to meet with for a while now. And: Miracle – she was FREE! So, we rushed our little selves over to her house, met her and 2 of her children, and were able to teach the Restoration to her. She's super keen and open and it's just brilliant. I honestly think that if we hadn't THOUGHT there was District Meeting, that we wouldn't have ended up at her house! And: She's now officially a new investigator for us!! So... the Lord blesses us with new investigators when we're seeking! :)
The day continued with some tracting around different areas, and meeting Sue, Yaman, and Lina. :) (Who's name instead turns into "Linda" every. single. time. I write it down. Haha.) We met Sue in the afternoon, and she told us we could come back later, as she was busy making dinner for her husband. Yaman invited us in for a cool drink (it was a crazy hot day), and ALSO told us we could come back. And then Lina :) - was our last full visit of the night. We knocked on her door around...7:30ish? Originally looking for someone else – but she came to the door, invited us in, and gave us watermelon and a cool drink. We found out she goes to the AOG (Assembly of God) church, but... also seems rather open to other faiths. She said her dad (?) was Mormon when she lived back in Samoa, and, well... that just helped us in realising we could go back. I don't think either of us felt it was the right time to share a lesson or even bring out any pamphlets, but we did say a prayer, which touched her in some way that we're not certain. The Spirit was definitely present, and she gave us hugs with tears in her eyes as we left :)
So... a miracle day. The Lord places people in our paths that need uplifting with the Spirit, and... we're excited to return and see them all again. :)
WEDNESDAY: Service at the Frosts :) #NewTools
We've purchased our OWN gardening tools now, 'cause there's been a few people that have mentioned maybe letting us come help in their gardens! So... we decided it was a worthy investment – no longer having to rely on other people having tools for us to use :) The rest of the day resulted in biking a lot of places, and dropping by to visit Ester & Jader & their daughter... who's name I sadly can't remember right now. But they're the cute little Brasillian family in our ward. It was definitely a message sent from God to visit them, 'cause... they have now moved away :( Down to Gisbon. LUCKILY it wasn't until yesterday (Sunday) that they actually moved, so we got to see them a few days before their new adventure more "South" begins! Jader got a job down there, so... there they go :) But we got to have a last conversation, a little message, and a picture :) Good times! We're sad to be losing our way of learning some Portugese though!
The night then followed with going to Ward Council, and then some walking through neighborhoods to talk with people. The thing that kind of ...saddened me, and definitely Sister Hobbs was a little miscommunication that I think went on between us and Brother Tu'tai (the 2nd counselor in the bishopric). During Ward Council, the question was brought up: If we were bringing members with us to visit people like Ivan and the Burgess boys, now that they're baptized? Alas - we haven't been. So, we took that into our notes, and brother Manukia piped up saying he'd come to Ivan. Then - because we had also mentioned we used to bring the Elders along with us before his baptism, they questioned why we brought the Elders instead of someone from the ward. We explained (or tried) that it was because when we got here —being double shifted in—we were given a note from Sister Blanchard that the Sunnyvale Elders came to lessons with Ivan - so Elder Christiansen KNEW Ivan. We didn't yet know him. We also didn't know the Ward yet. So when we got here, we continued bringing the Elders so Ivan would feel comfortable with someone he knew while he got to know us. Makes sense, right? Yes. However, like I said, there must have been a miscommunication somewhere along the line, because Wednesday night we got a call from our dear Elder Saulo (Zone Leader) asking if there was a reason "why we were bringing the Elders to lessons instead of ward members." Again, we explained to him what it was like in the beginning before we knew people, and that it's different now. Then we asked where he got this information, and apparently Brother Tu'tai had CALLED our Zone Leaders. So... here's the thing that was confusing to me about this. Obviously not the fact that Brother Tu'tai was concerned about things in the ward and he wanted something to change ... But the fact that at the end of Ward Council he shook both mine and Sister Hobbs' hands and didn't mention anything to us!
So... we suddenly felt like we'd somehow lost Brother Tu'tai's trust. We don't know how, exactly, but he's been rather "off-ish" with us lately - "correcting" us for things we're not PERFECT at, but... also in not coming straight to us with his concerns.
Anyhoo. So... any ideas/suggestions on how we can better become friends with and build a better trust relationship with Brother Tu'tai again (even though we're not sure where we lost it?) would be greatly appreciated! :) Happily, his wife seems to be just fine with us! In fact, she talks to us more than she used to! So, I don't know where we lost trust with him.
And then - to top off Wednesday night, I learned a great lesson of patience and humbling myself to deal with .... disorganization. Haha. The STL's called, asking if we could go on Trade-offs!...... The next day. #LastMinute #WeHadPlans #IWasExcitedForThatNextDay #IWouldBeLeavingOurArea #IGotFrustrated
Honestly, this was sadly the first time I've lost my patience that fast. And I realised (again) how much I don't like change. But... prayer is beautiful, and Heavenly Father helped me calm down and to love the STL's, despite the last-minute-ness of EVERY TIME they want to do a tradeoff.
THURSDAY began with Zone Training! And it was good. We talked about lesson plans, study plans, and keeping to a study plan in order to accomplish reading and studying certain things throughout the mission. This... was very good for me. Ha. As I now have an idea of how long it's going to take me to read all the things I want to this year :)
After Zone Training, because the sisters were already driving us around and we were about to start our tradeoff anyway, we went out to lunch – they all went to KFC, but I said, "Nah" cause... I'm just done with eating out in general... but whatevs. So they told me about this place called "Tank" which was across the car park – aka: kind of like a super posh version of Zupas. Ha. It was really nice actually, and my stomach appreciated the cleanness of a salad again. :)
My Trade-off was with Sister Fornaro in their area (again). (Sister Fornaro is my "grandma" - aka: my trainer's trainer. So it was fun to actually spend some time with her.) Aaaaaand... I got to drive! 'Cause, see - there's something with Austrailian's and their drivers licenses — they "expire" after a year of being in NZ, and therefore, they can't drive anymore. Whereas - Americans, we're able to get a New Zealand license after so long of being here! Woot! Still don't really understand why, but, hey, I'm not complaining!
My day with Sister Fornaro was filled with learning about how to make TWE more effective, how to gain more confidence, and staying motivated - even when my companion isn't. So... it was a good day. Regardless of the mini "fit" I threw the night before (seriously though - I wasn't happy at the last-minute-ness. Ha.) It turned out to be a blessing of a day. And I honestly know that came through the power of the prayers I kept saying that I"d be able to calm down, humble myself, find my level of patience I KNOW I have, and learn the things I needed to learn. It worked! And it was grand! :)
Ah, and the fun TWE moment of the day? Meeting Craig, whose main question not only humored me, but took me by surprise: "If there's a God, why would He create Dinosaurs? When were they here? And why would He choose to create big monsters to roam the earth?" LOLsss... Things I've never thought about. Or- not in that way at least. #AlwaysJustThoughtTheyWereCool #DinoLove
FRIDAY morning was the usual. Planning for the week. Lunch. And then out! And we got to see SENTOSA again! (Bahai faith family.) And this time we got to meet her 18-year-old daughter, JASMINE. We found some similarities within our beliefs (like... everyting, really), which helped us to build a stronger relationship with them. And a funny thing, apparently last week Sentosa's girls saw us walking down the street and when they got home they said, "Mum! We saw your friends walking down the street today!" Haha. So we told them that next time they should yell out to us! Love them. So much. Ah, and a fun thing we learned... Jasmine IS SEARCHING. She's not yet actually "declared" herself as a Bahai yet. So... we taught them a bit more about the Book of Mormon, and gave Jasmine her own. And she started reading it - literally right in front of us!! Haha. #Excitement :)
We visited the Burgess/Fiatau. (Did I ever mention that we found out the boys last name isn't actually Burgess?) Ha. They're under their dad's last name - Fiatau. Confusing things. #PartnerLife We just love seeing them. They're so excited no matter what lesson we're teaching, and they're ....so keen to learn. They'll truly be a grand part of helping their family come back to Church :)
We also got to see Michelle & Chanel Harder, and met a man named MARCUS. A YOUNG father - who was straight up with us, saying he was going down the street to sit on the corner and try and make some money for his family for the weekend before he starts his new job...today! ( Monday). He shared with us how much he LOVES his family and how he's intending to raise his children in a good way, away from the crazy things in this world. Soo... we asked if they were people he would want to be with forever. He said, "yes." We gave him a pamphlet. And we will probably now be tracting the street he said he lives on... or just praying he actually calls us. Haha. Love this work :)
And - a little funny thing from the night to show the cuteness and goofy-ness of my very British companion. As we were walking home (we walk through a petrol station, instead of going around - 'cause, well, it's faster), the music from One Direction - "What Makes You Beautiful" - was playing above our heads, and in my head I thought, "Ah - I have a very happy companion right now" - and SURE ENOUGH. When I looked over at her, she was staring at me with this goofy-looking smile and wide eyes of excitement! Hahahahaha! #British #Obsessed #OneDirection Love it :)
Ah. And one more. HaHa moment. As we continued walking down the street, there were two guys across from us getting out of their car. We waved and said, "hello!" One guy popped his head out of the car and said, "Hey! Where are you girls off to tonight?" Then, as we answered, I heard his friend mumble, "Dude, they're Mormons," after which the guy takling to us said, "Oh, uh... well, we're just going here to drink some beers!" Haaaaaaaa.... #ChangeOfThought. But whatevs. It brought another laugh to the night for both of us.
#LongEmail #IWriteTooMuch #IDon'tKnowWhat'
SATURDAY started as a beautiful, sunny morning - so we biked out to Garelja. Our appointment unfortunately... got cancelled. Aka: She wasn't home. So, instead we dropped by Marion's. And we finally caught her at a good time to help her put together some shelves (I GOT TO USE TOOLS AGAIN!). HAPPINESS. And we started helping her clean her house... Welp. That was a feat. Ha. 'Cause... Who's a hoarder? Ohhhh yup. Marion's a hoarder. Didn't know that until we saw ALL of her house (well... most of it). And it's really not even that big of a house. But... she's got a LOT of stuff. So we're going back this week to help out again... and hopefully bring a member to help us make her focus on things while we just attack the house. #CleaningProjectCommence #LizWouldDie ...Also this was the moment I became insanely grateful for all those times when I was little and Liz would help me clean out my room saying, "Do you need this? Okay. Where are you going to put it? You don't have a spot? You can't keep it." Hahaha
Since that took... significantly longer than we had expected, we decided to grab a quick lunch from the Gull petrol station, so that we wouldn't be late for our appointment with Anthony & Kids. Aka: Less-active family - though, we're no longer sure which ones living there are actualy the less actives. We had a fun little lesson with the kids though - while the adults were there, but clearly not interested in joining us. Whatevs. Anthony and Christina enjoy our little gospel games :) And Anthony's cute little "I'll come to church next week, I promise!"
As we left their house it started sprinkling... just a little. But... as we rode (yes, we were indeed still biking) from Imperial Place, to an entirely diferent part of our area - Tirimoana - it definitely decided to RAIN. ALL OF THE RAIN! SOAKED. But... only half of us. 'Cause our backs were covered by our bags, and because we were sitting - our butts didn't get any of the water either! But the front half of us was definitlely more than wet. Haha. By the time we got to our dinner appointment at Sister Jones' we were laughing hysterically at how wet we were, and stood outside for a bit to drip and wring out our skirts. We had a lovely time with Sister Jones, and were also grateful to not be in the buckets of rain pouring outside. Although, as we went to leave her house, the rain picked back up again. Ha. She offered to drive us somewhere, but we decided to just bring our bikes home, dry ourselves off a bit more, and make sure our bikes wouldn't rust and whatnot. #SuperSoaked
And that was the majority of our night. We ended up making phone calls for people who needed rides to church and things - which was good. 'Cause it got both Ivan and Marion to church on Sunday :)
Sunday wasn't a "normal" church day for us — we instead had an Area Conference :) – At least, that's what I'm calling it. Ha. But it was like a little piece of home, because it was a broadcast from Salt Lake! Elder Pearson (South Pacific Area President) spoke to us, as well as Elder Craig Christensen, Tad R. Callister, Cheryl A Esplin, and Elder Quentin L. Cook :) — WE thought it was goign to be Elder Christofferson from certain things he said to us when he came to our mission conference, but... alas. All goods though. It was a lovely meeting - basically talking about going back to the basics and fundamentals of the Gospel. Church, Pray, Read, and allowing the Spirit to work in your life. It was grand. :) And also fun to spend a little time with the Masiasomua's again (they picked us up for the meeting, and we sat with them). We had a lesson with the Donaldson's again this night - and they're just lovely. We're sad that our lessons with them are coming to a close though. So... hopefully we'll find another time we can still visit them on a regular basis.
Summary: This week we worked hard, accomplished and surpassed goals, and got closer to achieving others than we have in the past. Miracles were seen, lovely people were met. And, we have new people to teach :) Love it all. Also - I've been out 8 months. Is that just really weird for anyone else? Haha.
I hope you all have a most brilliant week. Remember to say your prayers and read from the scriptures every day—because I know that as you do, and as you ask for help in specific things in your day Heavenly Father blesses you with that help. And it's truly divine! :)
Much love and happiness and joy! :) I love you all HEAPS!!
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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