Grateful

WHERE HAS NOVEMBER GONE!??

Seriously though. I feel like it was just YESTERDAY that I was saying, "Yay! 18 days until my birthday!" And now I'm like, "HOW IS THERE ONLY 18 DAYS LEFT OF MY MISSION??" ......And then there's silence.  'Cause I don't know how to deal with that fact of life. I just want to keep finding and helping people here. I mean – EIGHTEEN DAYS!

It's truly true that at the end of your mission you realise just how fast everything goes. In the beginning you're praying every day to be able to MAKE IT to the end. And now.... it's like I BLINKED, and it's a year and a half later.

Time is TOO WEIRD.

There's been SO many things I've seen—especially in this area—that just make me insanely grateful for the life I grew up in. But seriously... this year has gone by just too fast! And I'm trying not to think about leaving all my islanders here in South.... 'cause it makes me sad.

Anyhoo. It's been a good week :)

TUESDAY was District Meeting—one that people kept freaking me out with saying it would be my last! (Because we won't have one for the next 2 weeks due to some training and things.) But I still have one more. No worries. Sister Stokes joined us for this particular district meeting, as the Tongan sisters were on trade-offs for the day. I've never actually served around Sister Stokes, but we're still friends somehow with like the... 2 or 3 times we've talked. Also: bonding through Sister Anitema. 'Cause S. Anitema knows us both.
Anyhoo. She leaves for back home THIS WEEK and I wish ALL THE BEST for her. (And we'll see one another in Provo!)

It was a grand day of miracles, ending up where we needed to be, even when it wasn't planned. We met some lovely people. Also a man who said, "I know what you do, and I don't like it," and closed the door. I laughed a little (...Does that sound bad? Ha.) Poor man. One day you'll learn :)

WEDNESDAY was a normal day, but we found some lovely potentials. And then our phone failed us and made it so we missed MCM...'cause no texts came through all day. Therefore, everything our WML said of, "Hey Sisters, yes, we're having MCM" and "Where are you?" and "Did you have an apointment?" never came through... until Thursday. Ha. #Struggles

THURSDAY. TRADE OFFS. I got to go out with my Sister Boiteux again :)  (aka: my first baby/trainee). I MISSED HER. Seriously. All in her STL self ;) It's fun to be able to get back with old companions at the end of  your missions and see how much you've both grown, and to share experiences and talk and just learn more from one another. So.... I was pretty lucky in my last 2 trade offs being with my "mum" and then my "daughter". LOVE.  #BLESSED.

FRIDAY. MIRACLE.
So tired. Felt gross. Still made it out. Heavenly Father blesses. We met a man who, honestly, I was hesitant to stop at the house of - just 'cause he was on the phone, and had a beer in hand. (I should know by now that that doesn't change much in South Auckland. Ha. Life in general here would probably be rated R pretty much all the time for language issues. You even hear SMALL CHILDREN swearing.) But we waited patiently, and he told us how he had recently seen a new movie out about Christ teaching as a child ("The Young Messiah") and how watching it made him miss the feelings he felt when he was a kid—the feelings of the Holy Spirit around him.
And because of this film, he and his wife were looking into bringing their 5 kids to church, and getting themselves into a better environment. They were looking into going to a church with his wife's sister in Mangare, but we mentioned to him when and where our services were, and he said, "Ah! That's
much closer!" Blessings! Hopefully we'll see them again this week :) They weren't able to make it to church this weekend, but we're still in contact, so... good things :)
Blessings. Miracles.  Little things to PICK YOU UP. Love it.

SATURDAY. This weekend we had a Stake RS weekend basically—Service, a "Cultural" Activity, and a Devotional on Sunday night. So Saturday afternoon was the main activity with each ward assigned a different place within the islands (Niue, Fiji, Tonga, Tahiti, Hawaii, Kiribus) and each brought a food item and did a dance.
BEAUTIFUL and exciting things!! And the best part? Our dear Puna (investigator) was super involved in all the things. Dancing with our RS and all.  Love her. Heaps.

SUNDAY the RS devotional was beautiful too.  Singing in different languages (I know how to sing "I Need Thee Every Hour" in Kiribati now!). The spirit teaches you brilliant things. I just love it.

Also, this weekend Tyler broke bread and Hohia passed the sacrament!!!!  Why is this exciting?  They were BOTH super less active 5 or so months ago—Tyler in the way of 5 or 6 months ago he was smoking and drinking every day....and now look where they're at!
THE GLORIES OF THE GOSPEL!!

So... another week, more knowledge gained, and more experiences had.  And I know there are more miracles to come, more people to find, and exciting things to come as well.

Life is great in the NZ world. ...I kind of don't remember what life is like anywhere else. So that's different than what I expected. Ha.  I love it. I'm blessed.  And I'm grateful :)

I hope you all have a most beautiful week ahead.

ALOFA TELE ATU!
Sister Mckenzie Ann Ottley