Miracles in the Park

I'm great! I haven't actually heard anything about the earthquake on the South Island this morning that you all mentioned, nor have I felt anything! The South Island is a LOT farther away than it looks on the map. Haha. But it probably means we'll get aftershocks of storms this week or something.... but nothing more than that. ;)

I did hear about the elections though. People asking things like, "How do you like the idea of going back to your crazy country?" Haha. So how is life with Trump? Glad to hear he gave a gracious acceptance speech. The church's statement is definitely classy. I will be praying for our country along with the the rest of the church!

Wanna hear Sister Christiansen's election theory? She was saying that because she believes that Heavenly Father has a sense of humour (truth) that the Second Coming is coming soon—because of how in the scriptures it says that the Second Coming will happen "at the sound of a trump" ...Hahaha ;) ;)

TRANSFERS are this week!! Where did the last 6 weeks go?  Have I really been south this long? Also: Watching other missionaries go home is sad when they live somewhere else and you just think, "But, how will I see you again?" #StruggleIsReal Haha.

My companion is good :) Her English is coming along nicely. She's still quiet but getting more out there. It's good for both of us. I definitely think we'll both stay.... it really doesn't sound like President to transfer me. Haha.

It's all good. 'Cause it's been a good week :) Also a week of learning patience, humility, and lots of prayer.

MONDAY. Zone P-day—Life-size Board Games. BEST EVER! Fuseball, Battleship, and Hungry Hungry Hippos. All human-size. HILARIOUS.
LOVE.

That night, due to our appointments cancelling, we were able to have FHE with the Elders at Norman's—which was exciting, because he always has questions that make you think!  Elder Saulo also lovingly and sneekily texted the Tongan sisters toward the end of our lesson to save us from walking home in the rain... #HavingNoCarProbs But instead we were all dry and loving it when we got home :)

TUESDAY. Ha. This is how the beginning of District Meeting went:

"Elder! Why are you acting like I'm dying?  You even have my name on the board for bearing my testimony!"

"Because Sister Ottley, it's your last District Meeting!"

"How is it my last District Meeting?"

"Because next week you and Elder Saulo will be at the Mission Office at exit orientation!"

"......Elder! I STILL HAVE A MONTH.  Stop killing me before I actually die!"

Struggle is real. Haaaa. He LITERALLY thought I was leaving this transfer. In that moment, alllllll the comments he's made and all the questions of "how close the plane is" suddenly made sense. Haaaa. No worries. It was cleared up. I still have time ;)

We had a good day, but slow as, 'cause sickness and not really being able to breathe. But we got to know one of our members named
Angela better, who was actually given to us as a referral (ha), and come to find out she wants to prepare for a mission! Exciting! So we're hopefully going to get her to come out with us sometime.

CJ and Jasmine—also the lights of our life. Jasmine is excited to learn about the gospel, and brings more light into her Mum's life each day. And definitely brings light to us as well. All the excitement in her in learning!

WEDNESDAY... Tuesday morning, we also found out that we would be going on MTC TRADE OFFS! Meaning: the missionaries from the MTC who were going out into their missions this week came out with us for a couple hours to get a bit of hands-on experience! (Things I didn't get, due to only being in the MTC for 2 weeks instead of 3!) It was exciting though :) I was with Sister Jeik, from the Marshall Islands. She's the sweetest, and is going to be the best missionary! She was also a blessing, putting up with a sister who was still coughing her head off... Ha. The rest of the afternoon involved a bit of tracting, finding some great potentials, and then off to see Dr. Shepherd to figure out why I couldn't breathe....  Now I have new friends... called Paracetamol and Inhaler. Yeah. They gave me an inhaler! It makes me shake like there's no tomorrow, but it also makes it so I can breathe. So...perks! Ha. They also told me that I did, indeed, have a slight fever and that I should "probably stay in for a couple days and just rest" ...........I paused at that. Ha. And Sister Bath looked at me and said, "is that going to work?" ...And I said no. So she said to "try and rest when I could." So, we did a bit when we got home after the doctor. Had our dinner break, and went to MCM. Then—Tradeoffs with Sister O'Reilly and Christiansen began :) My dear trainer mum. Excited to be with her for her last trade-off in the mission? YES. YES. I WAS!

THURSDAY with Mum was grand. :)
We tracted, visited, met people.... and then went home and followed doctor's orders and actually slept and rested... because I was still exhausted, and the inhaler at first actually made me just feel weird and shakey and ...I had zero ability to focus.  Ha. Fun times.

We still had our dinner with the Leha-uli's, and dropped in to see Angela again. All the bright lights in our lives.  :) Sister O'Reilly is a blessing, and I'm OH SO VERY GRATEFUL for all I've been able to learn from her in the mission. I've been spoiled with GREAT SISTERS, EVERYWHERE.

FRIDAY: Planning. And so tired. But... the Lord blessed us this day with MANY MIGHTY MIRACLES for getting up, going out, and moving! It began with David. We were on our way to visit one of our investigators, going through the Park by Tupu Youth Library.  There was this man that had just sat down on a bench, so as we were walking by, we said hi - and both of us just stopped. We started talking to him and he said, "I knew you were coming!" We asked how?, to which he responded, "Because God told me you were coming!" He said, "I was talking with Him, and he said, 'Here I come now' so I sat down ...and here you are!"

He told us how he wasn't part of any church or anything -but that he wanted to learn about the Bible and the Book of Mormon and everything. We shared a bit with him about Joseph Smith, gave him a Book of Mormon, and got his address to send missionaries his way! ...Hopefully they went! Ha. He lived out of our zone, but had come from Mangare to visit his nephew. But, seriously. SO PREPARED, and SO wonderful. It's moments like that where, even though you don't get to teach the person, your testimony is strengthened of this brilliant work we have. It's up to us to invite people to learn, even when they basically invite themselves! Haha.
And then the miracles continued.
After we had met David, and tried to visit some other people around the area, we were on our way back through that park, when we met 2 young girls walking home from school. We said hi and asked how school was—to which they said good, and the younger one piped up and asked us, "Have you ever tried OUR house?"

"Um...Where do you live?" "...Um... Just follow us!" We followed them home—their names are Latysha and Mirahkle (yes, her name was literally MIRAKHLE - pronounced, "miracle")—and fun fact: they're the daughters of one of our less actives that we've been trying to meet. BRILLIANT!!

The last miracle of the day came with our lesson with CJ and Jasmine. Why?  Because Jasmine is SET FOR BAPTISM :) It was also pretty hilarious this day, because every time we had one of these miracles, the zone leaders happened to call us, or bump into us....so they got to hear about it all! By the end of the day, when they called JUST after we had set Jasmine, I said "Elder Ruth! Wanna hear another miracle?" He responded with, "Woah...I don't know! You've just had too many today!"

LOVE. LOVE THIS WORK.

SATURDAY was a highlight day, after learning for myself something that I wish I had thought of at the BEGINNING of my mission. Ha. (Better late than never, right?) And that's this: To START each day like you've already witnessed a miracle! (Or, in missionary life, to START each day like you've just found someone new, who's SUPER KEEN and PREPARED to teach.)
We had a lesson with Skye. And dinner with Skye. We had a visit with the Lakisa's. And a quick visit with Jasmine again, to remind her that we would be there to pick her up for church... Ha.

SUNDAY: Ward Council—early! But It's good. Love our council. Love our ward :) We picked Jasmine up for church. The Talavave's had us over for dinner, where we were able to have a grand conversation with Tyler, who's preparing to serve a mission soon. It's fun to talk to people who want to serve, and thinking back to when I was in that position. I can't believe how long ago it was now. So many things learnt, and so many more things to continue learning. We visited with Amelia and her kids, and challeneged them to place a Book of Mormon of their own, as well as Liz across the street.

I JUST LOVE THIS AREA :)

TODAY. This morning we had a Zone Devotional, as the last p-day of the transfer. STILL so weird. Also: it's sad watching Elders go home.... But we all have our time, and we all have things to continue learning as new adventures continue.

Thank you all for the Birthday wishes and the cute pics!!! I did, indeed, get my package :) Thank you  much — LOVED the American lollies.... I didn't realise I actually missed certain lollies from home until I saw the cinnamon bears and gummies... Also: Leesha's Caramel. BEST. Also excited for the birthday present, which is currently hiding under my desk to not tempt me... Haha.

Life is crazy. Truly like a box of chocolates. Haha.

Hope you all have a brilliant week, and that many miracles abound ;)

Alofa tele atu,
Sister Mckenzie Ann Ottley