Miracles of Miracles

WHANAU!
How goes it!? How's life? What's new?

I hope you've all had just as brilliant of a week as we have had here in Tamaki :) It's a beautiful sunny day, and a very happy Halloween! (Even though it's definitely not celebrated the same here...and it sounds like more of a night to be terrified of than to get candy from the sounds of it.) But all is well! We have the Lord on our side. And also a Trunk or Treat at the chapel tonight, so that should be fun.

Anyhoo. Miracles!

"And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles." —Mormon 9:19

HIGHLIGHTS:
1) One new investigator.
2) Finishing lessons with the Maifala girls.
3) Becoming better friends with members.
4) BAPTISMS!
5) Two more new investigators, and some great potentials :)

MONDAY was actually kind of a struggle night. Ha.
We had 3 appointments set up for the night.
And....all cancelled. But the Elders let us join in on their FHE for the night so we could feel productive. And it was fun :)

TUESDAY. A family night with the Talavave's again. Love their family, so dearly. And by "family" I mean - all the boys that show up as friends and are basically family. Ha. We're always surrounded by boys in the house, and all their cheeky comments - but they're also there to learn. It's great. And our new investigator... He's a Cook Island Deacon and preaches often in his own church, but we still were able to teach him a bit about the Book of Mormon, and we found out he's actually read it before, and asked his minister if it was the word of God. The minister's response was that it was "a book just for the Mormons" (ha) – so he asked us if it was a book from God, and we committed him to begin reading it again and ask God himself. And he said he would :) We'll be going back again this week. All the happy.

WEDNESDAY. Our last lessons with the Maifala girls before their baptism! As well as finding people who have moved and finding others who have moved in and need some fellowshipping ;)  Teaching all along the way, and being strengthened by investigators questions. Goals this week: To find scriptures to support allllll the things in the Bible. Ha. We've got an investigator on our hands who is Protestant and knows his bible - but he carries the Book of Mormon around with him too. He's a good kid.

THURSDAY. Running around meeting and visiting people, and preparing things for Friday (Baptism Day!). ...And a meeting with our Bishop, since our Ward Mission Leader is out of town...

FRIDAY! The most BEAUTIFUL of beautiful days :)
Seeing the girls all dressed in white was all the exciting. Watching them enter those waters and seeing their faces SHINE afterward was amazing. And our little Fay bore her testimony afterward as well. The Spirit was SO strong, and it was so fun to see how much they've all grown—just in a matter of a few weeks. They're all truly committed to the new life they've entered—as well as trying to get their dad on board too! Haha. A beautiful family, who I KNOW will be sealed in the temple one day :)

And to top it all off - SATURDAY we were able to meet a BEAUTIFUL couple who invited us into their home, and asked for "reading material." They've been looking at christianity and seemed to be curious (like Joseph Smith) "why there are so many churches" – so we're excited to teach them in the future :)

The MOST IMPORTANT thing I've learned on my mission? That the Gospel is true :) And that it's simple. And that we over-complicate things.  It's all about CPR—just as we have physical CPR to keep us breathing when our heart stops—we also have SPIRITUAL CPR—Church, Pray, Read.  I'm sure I've shared that before. But I love it. It's the things we need to keep us alive spiritually. And that by serving others we gain a greater relationship with Heavenly Father. All things that I knew before.....but I really KNOW it now. The difference between knowing and KNOWING. Haha. ;)

Life is grand. Miracles happen every day! No matter if they're little or big, a miracle is a miracle and they will ALWAYS brighten your day.

I hope all is well back home :) Keep swimming, my friends! (This is what Bishop Vaipulu says to us all the time. Ha.  I love it.)

P.S. Halloween pics... All the little grandkids need to stop growing. They're too big!

Alofa tele atu,
Sister Mckenzie Ann Ottley

Fourth Floor, Last Door...

President Uchtdorf is just BRILLIANT. And I love his stories. Especially since the talk he gave in Women's Conference (I'm a week behind you all back home) is the OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY to another talk he gave previously. I'm pretty sure it's his "Your Happily Ever After" talk that he tells the story of when Harriet first walked into the chapel when he was a deacon. And now this story being the "prequel" to that was just brilliant for me. Anyhoo. I LOVE missionary work. It's the LIGHT of my life, and I love sharing with others why this gospel is so brilliant. Whether the people we talk to are member or non member, we can all be missionaries. :)

MONDAY we had TWO FHE appointments. With the Hall family and the Kumars. Love them all. They bring light into my life. :)

TUESDAY. Teaching in UNITY! Honestly, it's been a struggle this transfer for my companion and I to get the hang of teaching with one another. We just both have very different styles of teaching—she'll tell you the same. But, this day was just the beginning of brilliance. We just felt grand. And it was great. And teaching was happy.  We got to visit with Harper and her family, and taught the first part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—Faith, Repentance, and Baptism. We then were able to have another brilliant lesson, teaching The Plan of Salvation to Brandon, and his niece, Piper.

Sisters Holt, Anitema and Ratukalou came to stay—Sister Ratukalou because she was leaving—Sisters Anitema and Holt because they were going to be going to MLC in the morning. It's always a blessing to have a little of Anitema in my life :) And I love Sister Holt. She's just like this ball of sunshine everywhere she goes. I hope there's partying with her when we're both back home as well!

WEDNESDAY. Sick day. Sister Ratukalou was ill (right before she was to go home...sad). So we just helped to doctor her, get her packed, and let her rest, until we dropped her at the mission office for her interview with President before leaving. Helpful day, getting myself more organized—as I really don't know what's going to happen with this transfer this week—so, basically, I started packing. Or rather "de-junking" my life. #TooMuchStuff #Gatherer #ItsAProblem

We had Dinner with Elder and Sister Collins :) (My heart. Love them.) Which was quite perfect, as they live in Takapuna—which is where the mission office is—where we dropped Sister Ratukalous :)

THURSDAY. Zone Training. "Grandma! Listen Harder!" I loved this story from President Uchtdorf. And it was BRILLIANTLY exciting at Zone Training, 'cause we WATCHED his talk for part of training. And I loved his point of how sometimes we don't need to listen harder, but instead "differently." TRUTH. I've learned that a lot on the mission. And this transfer. Not only with people and physical things, but with Heavenly Father. Paying attention in different ways so He can show us things in different lights of life.

Anyhoo. Training was brilliant. And "becoming a fourth floor, last door missionary" is just a grand thought to me. LOVE it.

Another lesson with Harper. :) - The Heta family is just....amazing. And light and happy and grand in our lives. We met a referral named Belinda. She's brilliaintly adorable, and we have an appointment with her this week :)
And we received some texts from another investigator contact. Haaaaa.... #Flirt. He's actually kind of a miracle. Last week we met him while looking for someone else's house. He ran to the door when he heard that we said "missionaries" and said, "Wait! Did you say you're missionaries? Do you have a card or something? I would talk to you now, but we're in a meeting.  So I'll call you later." So...we gave him our card! Then, Thursday we got a text from him asking, "Is this the correct number for a lady I met the other day by the name of Ohley?" ...Struggles with the "tt" in the name looking like an "h". ...He then proceeded to ask me out to coffee to "talk about all things theological and mission based" Haaaaaaa!! I was CRACKING UP in the car when Sister Tcheou was reading it to me as we drove around Kaukapakapa.  Anyhoo. Long story short, he's definitely a flirt. Hahahaha.... Sister Tcheou's response when he kept asking me out for coffee: "He DOES realize that we're a package deal right? I'M not the third wheel in this — HE is the third wheel!!!"
Hahahaha.... I literally about died laughing! But I hope we actually get to meet him this week, because from my point of view, he legitimately does want to know about missionary work, ... and he apparently lives right next to the chapel.  So.... ya know. There's that. You never know!!

And then there was the....struggle side of the day. We went to bring something to a sister in the ward who...we've been trying to figure out how to make friends with. Not sure what happened, or if we offended her somehow, or if it's something in the past.. don't know.  But she was still rather sharp with us and sent us away with...not so nice words. Sister Tcheou was FUMING. Didn't really speak much the rest of the day.
But I knew why and understood. (Sister Tcheou was told by this lady that she was RUDE the last time we came over.) BUT.... lessons came of this, for me. It made me think back to this talk by Elder Holland—"Missionary Work and the Atonement"—where he says, "Salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy!" He talks about how someitmes we have to walk a bit of the path that the Saviour walked for us in order to make everything more real. And it TRULY works. It makes you more frustrated and hurt than ever, but it's comforting because it makes the ATONEMENT more real—even though the things we experience are nothing compared to what our Savoiur had to go through for us. And... Sometimes you just want to slap the people that make your companions sad and hurt. But, unfortunately that woudn't make things better. So there's that.

FRIDAY. Bugs. Lots of attacking the flat with flea bombs and vacuums and all that jazz. Sister Tcheou has been getting eaten (and somehow not me for the first time, ever.)

SATURDAY. Robyn. Love her.  She's KEEN to learn—EVEN THOUGH she has friends that found out she's been meeting with "Mormon missionaries" and they told her "not to get sucked in" Hahahahaha.... But Robyn is brilliant.  And we love her.  She's a light in our lives :) And her ankle is slowly, but surely healing – so that's good.

WOMEN'S BROADCAST.  BRILLIANT. I've already said things about it, I know. But I also loved the emphasis that was put on POSITIVE THINKING.  BROTHER, am I EVER an advocate for that! Truth. And will ALWAYS BE TRUTH.

SUNDAY. BRANDON IS SET FOR BAPTISM. ...That was the most exciting thing of the day! Ha. We had a lesson with him. A visit with Emma. A dinner with the Woods family. And a visit with LINDA.  Brillliant day, loved it all. Especially since Linda's been sick for a while now, so glad to see her up and going again :) Hate it when people get sick :( So yes. BRANDON is set for baptism :) 15 of October. Joys! Only sad thing is that we're now to the end of the transfer. Ha. And, well, I've been here for ages. So we'll see. But it's okay. :) The important thing is for them to make that step – not that I have to be here for it :)

Anyhoo. Life is grand. Another week has passed, and I can't even believe it!  It's OCTOBER, PEOPLE. How did that happen? Where did the last YEAR go!?

I'll be off now. But I hope you have a most brilliant week!

Alofa tele atu,
Sister Mckenzie Ann Ottley

Think Big!

E pe heana a koe?(How are you?)

Kel te pai! (Very good!)

#LearningMaori
#ExcitingThings

Yesterday and the day before, my answer to that first question was the following:

Kei te mawiwi ahau  (I am not well.)

and

Kei te nge nge ahu (I am very tired.)

Sickness, man. It gets ya. I used to never get sick! But, alas—a different lifestyle, climate, and food (and parasites?)—all go hand in hand in changing things within the body I guess. But all is well now, and we'll get to that in a bit :)

PONDERISE:
"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 unto 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 4:35

AND... a quote of the week that I got from our "specialised training" this week:

"Don't let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do.  Believe in yourself and then live so as to reach your possibilities." —President Thomas S. Monson ("Living the Abundant Life" Ensign Jan 2012)

It's been a good week :) Regardless of getting sick—because the fact that we have prayer and the Priesthood within this gospel makes all things better. I can't imagine life without it.

MONDAY. Dude. The insanity but funnest of P-DAYS!! Emails, Shopping, then: Zone P-Day. "The Amazing Race: Henderson!" Haha. We had a grand time. We were split up into teams, given clues, and then GO!  We ran around the church grounds and around Henderson (in cars) doing different tasks and competing against one another. All the excitement! The Samoan Sisters  (Liataua and Pita) set it all up, and it was truly brilliant. We had to do tasks (and document with photos along the way) such as basketball shot-making (I let the other sisters do this one. Ha), getting our car washed, getting a picture on a slide in a park, pictures hugging mannequins at the mall, going to the bowling alley and getting one of us to get a strike, going to the Falefatu's house and doing the "Weet-bix Challenge" [where you try to eat as many dry Weet-bix—a popular breakfast cereal made from shredded wheat—as you can in one minute, without spitting it out or drinking water), ...and other things that aren't coming to mind right now. Haha. Basically, it was a super crazy exciting day. And.... we even came in second :) EVEN WITH BEING GIVEN A "ROAD BLOCK" - aka: One of the other teams got to sabatoge us to slow us down. The extra challenge given? To go to Mackers (McDonalds), get LARGE frozen drinks (luckily a "large" here isn't as big as at home. It's maybe the equivilent of a medium, if not a small drink at home....) and drink them while sitting at McDonalds. Aka: very fast! #BrainFreeze But... like I said, we still came in second.  And just BARELY.  We saw the red team just getting out of their car as we drove into the chapel... so by the space of a few minutes we were beat. But - it was all fun and games and exciting! :)

Sister Hobbs and I ended the night trying to find a few potentials in the area around the Masiasomua's home (we originally had a plan to have a lesson with them... but, alas: They ended up all having to work and whatnot). And...apparently it truly wasn't the right night for us to meet them. 'Cause most people weren't home. OR in the case of the main referral we were looking to find: We couldn't remember where the street was. So we called the Elders to look at a map for us. And...well, the directions that both sets of Elders gave us were the exact same, and ....were both incorrect! So we ended up going in a really large circle. Ha. But - all is well. We tried. And then we moved forward. We tried to find someone at this point to help us in getting home, because it would have taken... probably an hour and a half to walk home from that side of our area. But: alas, once again, no one we called in our ward was answering. So... we started walking! At about... half to 9, we were still on Sturges Rd. ...when who drove up? Sister Masiasomua :) She was on her way home from work. And this was a miracle moment when we all knew the spirit definitely works within us and all around us. Because Sister Masiasomua was telling us that normally she would have just stayed at work to finish up the few things she had left to do, but this night, she thought, "Nah - I'll leave it for tomorrow." And came home.  #Blessings #LittleMiracles 'Cause... Sister Hobbs and I were exhausted. She graciously drove us home and we were able to plan and get ready for the next day in a timely manner, rather than an hour later than we would have wanted!

So... BLESSINGS!!

Phew. (A man that definitely smokes just came and sat down by me. Fun times!) #InternetCafeLife

TUESDAY. We had District Meeting! Then lunch. And ..cancelled appointments. *Sad face*. We met with a less-active, and with Ivan. Ivan is just wonderful. We were supposed to have dinner wtih the Sekona's this night, but - Sister Sekona was taken by sickness... so they purchased food for us and dropped it off. #ButterChicken #Spoiled And... we had our final lesson AND the interviews for Eli and Hakeian's baptism :) Yes, they passed, and yes, we had a wonderful lesson. They're just ....so fun! :D

Also: BUGS. They need to stop biting me. I have over 13 bites just on my left arm right now, 7 of which surround my elbow. We think they're all coming from my bed suddenly... and it got worse AFTER we sprayed the bed down with Permetherine on Tuesday. So...that's fun. Apparently it just angered, rather than killed the bugs this time around. I'm confused as to what makes them suddenly appear. It's fine. I'm over it. I apparently just need to start lathering myself in oils before I get in bed, rather than in the day when it would make more sense to get bitten. :P #TheBuggyLife

WEDNESDAY ...Sickness. Truly. I never got this sick at home. Or at least not as often as I feel sick here. But - we stayed in the flat at the beginning of the day - but still made it out for the night, attempting to meet some referrals - with one success! She wasn't able to talk with us then, but we did make an appointment for this week. So... good things :) We also met another member who lives in our area, but attends... Sunnyvale! (I think) Ward. Anyhoo. The Singh family.  Apparently the sister of the Singh girl we met works at the MTC! I... honestly don't remember her.  Haha. She was never one of my direct teachers. But I'm sure I'll recognize her when I actually see her again. They're a wonderful family :)

THURSDAY started out differently than usually - with weekly planning, because Friday we knew we would be in a training meeting with president.... So - we planned, and we went out. This time with COURTNEY from Sunnyvale Ward.  OH she's adorable. She met a potential with us - Yami. He's... definitely an interesting potential!  He's muslim - but still open to learning new things. Ah. And he doesn't blink. Ever. That's what kind of weirded me out about the whole situation of talking with him. Ha. Literally doesn't blink when he's lookin at you. Eyes WIDE open. So - it'll be fun to see where that goes. He WANTED a Book of Mormon to read though, so we'll see!

We also visited Aroha and her family, and went to the Millers for dinner. I feel like she always feeds us some sort of American-ish meal.  Ha. It makes me laugh. This time it was burgers. Really good burgers though! And chocolate mousse. #Mmm

We had her drop us to Sturgess Rd. so that our dear Danni Butler could pick us up at the edge of our area and it wouldn't be so far for her to drive :) It was a good time with the family. We went over the Restoration, and I think it was good. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. I wish I could do more for them. They're the best people and make our lives so happy.

FRIDAY. "Specialized Training" Day at Sunset Chapel! It was a good training, it really was. We got together with Waterview and Harbour Zones and were just given some council from President and Sister Balli, and the assistants. Our dear Elder Hunter and Sister Cluff from our Zone also gave a talk! So that was fun.  Ah - and Elder Clark, Saulo, and Peihopa sang a BEAUTIFUL verson of How Great Thou Art together.  So, yes. I got to see Elder Clark again - and it was wonderful. I also met another Elder - Elder Fermanis. Haaaaaa. #BiggestFlirt #ElderWeAreOnAMission We had gotten there early—before the chapel was even open, so we were out chatting for a bit, and this is when I met Elder Fermanis.  After he found out where I was from (he's from NZ), this is how the conversation went:

Elder Fermanis: "Are there any beaches in Utah Sister Ottley?"
Me: "Yes! ...Well, I mean, there's Bear Lake."
Elder Fermanis: "Is it nice?"
Me: "Yes!"
Elder Fermanis: "So - is that us?"
Me: *Silence, but thinking, "Wha?" *
Elder Fermanis: "Ah - but wait. we coudlnt' be alone. Hey, Elder Shannon! You're from Utah, do you know Sister Ottley?

* Elder Shannon, who I was talking to before Elder Fermanis, comes back into the conversation *

Elder Shannon: Yeah!
Elder Fermanis: Is Bear Lake nice?
Elder Shannon: Yes!
Elder Fermanis: Is it clear?
Elder Shannon: Yes!
Elder Fermanis: Ah - so is that all of us? Going to Bear Lake?

*And this is where Elder Shannon just kind of left me hanging... there with Elder Fermanis. Ha.*

Elder Fermanis: "Ah - so when do you go home?"
Me: "December."
Elder Fermanis: "Ah... it's not meant to be."
Me: What?
Elder Fermanis: I'm coming to visit Utah - in October. And I LEAVE in December.
Me: *laughs* thinking - "Who does this Elder think he is?"

...And it continued through to the beginning of the meeting, with him trying to get me to come sit by him and whatnot. Haaaaaa.  #ToughLuckElder #ProbablyThinksI'm19. It's truly classic to see Elder's faces when they find out i'm 24! Sadly, I didn't get to a point in the conversation that I could have told him that. Ah well.

Moral to the story: I'm on a mission.  And I learned (more like, FULLY realised) in this moment that I do indeed have my head set IN THE MISSION - 'cause I had no idea what the flirting life was anymore. Lol. I did receive word from a Sister afterwards that he really is a good Elder and a great missionary - he just likes to "act" like that. Also - he's going home next transfer.  Thus... there's gotta be some trunky-ness in there. Silly Elder. Oh. Wait. I have a maori word for that. Porangi Elder ;)  (Silly, giddy, or "Blonde")

Ha. Life. Fun experiences meeting different kinds of missionaires. Ah - he's also Maori. I think Maori/Greek.

The Training Meeting was grand though. That's where my "THINK BIG" title and the quote at the beginning of my email came from.

"Don't let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do.  Believe in yourself and then live so as to reach your possibilities." —President Thomas S. Monson ("Living the Abundant Life" Ensign Jan 2012)

And... here's the thought that I got from this quote. It doesn't mean just not letting OTHERS convince you that you're limited in anything — but it's about not letting even YOURSELF convince you that you're not able to do anything. I thought of it this way because I've started realising that sometimes I think "this must be what this person is thinking about me right now, because that's how they're acting to me" ...if that makes sense.  Sometimes I bring myself down by thinking about things I think others are thinking about me. And then I drive myself crazy, and it's never worth it.
So: YOU CAN DO IT!  It's going to be a great year....or 11 months, almost now 10... of missionary work :)  I can feel it!

Ah - and the Goal of Baptisms for the mission this year? Is 950. Last year we accomplished: 522.  But... can we get 950? YES. Why?  'Cause it's just under 5 people per missionary. Psh..... TOTES possible! [Normally unlikely, but totally doable!] And, our Heavenly Father needs us to bring His children to Him. And I need my Kiwi, Maori, and Islander brothers and sisters in the Celestial kingdom, man. I love them all so much.

Continuing with the rest of Friday. We HAD an appointment set with a potential for after the training... but it fell through.  'Cause the training went a bit longer than we had intended, sadly enough. But... hopefully soon! We WILL get to meet Vale one day!

And this is the point in time when I ACTUALLY started feeling legitimately ill. As we were walking around, nope, BIKING around the area, and our appointment with Marion also fell through. So we stopped by the Leato's. They fed us, 'cause they love us, and I was grateful.  However.... alas, it didn't help the sick feeling. It made it a lot worse. Probaby partially because it was Chinese takeaways (all of which here I'm beginning to gather are rather similar to "Panda Express" back home... the taste, at least, and... the fact that I can taste the MSG life.) Anyhoo. We made a last visit to Aroha Henare - whom I love, SO dearly, and then... we went home. Somewhat more slowly than I usually bike, but... my body was just done. Done done. I slept that night - but... definitely not well. I honestly felt like I was going to puke all night long, and literally prayed and talked to myself the entire night – that I wasn't going to throw up. (Yes, that's how much I hate it. Reasons I could never be bulimic!)

I didn't. But... I still felt absolutely disgusting and SO TIRED SATURDAY morning. But... we still got up and got ready and whatnot, 'cause, well, we had ELI AND HAKEIAN'S BAPTISM. #Win. :) So - like I said, I felt gross, and mostly pretty much everyone could tell.  Luckily, they just kept asking if I was tired... rather than ill. So I guess that was good in a way! But - I honestly didn't know if I was going to make it - I knew I HAD to, 'cause - I wasn't missing the baptism! But... I was struggling. So, Sister Hobbs said a prayer for me that I would be able to make it through the next few hours. Anddd.... I did! :) Prayer is REAL, folks! Love it :)  Ha.

So... Eli and Hakeian are adorable, and they're now baptised :)  It was a fun baptism program with a lot of family surrounding and happiness. And... because I didn't know if I would be able to stand for longer than 5 minutes without wanting to pass out, our lovely Elder Hunter and Gulliver took over talking about the Restoration for us ('cause, that's what we do for baptisms while the baptised people are getting changed after the actual baptism).
Then - at the end of the baptism program, I had my head down on a bench, and the Sisters came over to figure out what was up - and then said, "We have 6 Elders here who could all give you a blessing." ... Yup. Done. Priesthood power is real. I think, along with SO many other things, I've learned this most on my mission. I received a blessing from Elder Hunter, annointed by Elder Saulo. And it was one of those miracle moments when I felt peace in a different way than I thought I would during the blessing. It was in the simplest of phrases. "Heavenly Father is proud of what you have done on your mission." ...It was one of those moments that I honestly hadn't fully realised it was an answer I was looking for - until I got the answer.

Heavenly Father looks out for us. He HEARS our prayers, and sometimes... He hears the things in our thoughts that we don't even realise we've been asking for!

The rest of SATURDAY was spent at the flat. 'Cause... like I said.  Illness. I slept a lot, ate ...nothing, and just tried to not be exhausted. The Elders (Hunter and Gulliver again) loved us enough to bring over dinner - as Sister Hobbs had none, and... I was finally feeling up to some broth of sorts at least. What did they come over with? A pasta dish and soup for me—both homemade! #Spoiled and #Delicious I only had... like half a bowl... of the soup, but it was filled with veggies and happiness. Which made my stomach grateful for the lightness.

SUNDAY was better.  Still stayed in during the morning time - as... my stomach still wasn't happy with the moving life, and I couldn't stand for long. I slept it off more and luckily was much better by the time church time came around. Eli and Hakeian were confirmed, and were given some pretty grand promises within their blessings. The Holy Ghost is cool, right?  I just love it.

We went to the Joseph's for dinner - which was like a dinner from heaven.  LIGHT, and like home. (Can you tell I'm getting sick of the heavy meal/meat life? ...I still like it, but... I think it's just become hard on my stomach.)  Quiche, salad, and Maori bread. (Which I found out is made with a potato base, and a "fermintation" process, similar to Dad's yeast thing. So I'm excited to get that recipe :) Sister Jones (Sister Joseph's mum) has started teaching us Maori, and I"m defintiely excited for continuing lessons. :) She said she'll teach us a full prayer next time!  Haha.

The rest of the night was spent trying to find some potentials again, and me struggling to push my tired body up hills. So, Sister Fischer lovingly picked us up, and dropped us at the flat so we could pick up my whiteboard and markers for the lesson we had planned for the Donnaldson's.
We love them, they make us happy. And we become better friends with them a little bit more aech time we visit. I just love all our ward.

I'm finally getting better. I actually got up and moved around like a normal person this morning - and... I'm insanely grateful. I hate being sick. It WILL be overcome though.  We WILL find new people to begin fully teaching this week, and.... we WILL set someone new for baptism. Sister Hobbs and I have decided that for us, a goal of one baptism a month is definitely doable.  And we're excited.  We just have to work hard to find that golden one for next month ;)

Another quote I got this week that I really like:

"Sometimes FEAR SHOUTS SO LOUD in our ears, that it almost drowns out our FAITH. ... But God knows who we are. We cannot go anywhere that he cannot find us." —Emma Smith: My Story

IT'S TRUE! We have to let FAITH overcome the fear in life! :)

I hope you all have a most amazing week.  I know that our Heavenly Father watches out for us in every move we make, and LOVES it when we talk to Him about anything and everything. Prayer is beautiful, our GOSPEL is beautiful, and Missionary Work is super exciting!

ALL THE LOVE, from your dear Kiwi Missionary —

Arohanui,
Sister Mckenzie Ann Ottley

Faith, Patience, and Love

ALL THE LOVE for this week! There's nothing like a baptism to make you want to bring ALL THE PEOPLE to the waters of baptism!! — This is what I learned this week :)

So... It's been a good one. Also filled with a bit of heat stroke between Sister Hobbs and myself... but all is well. Nothing can ever fully stop us!

PONDERIZE:
—John 20:30-31; 21:25

30 ¶And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:

31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. —John 20:30-31

25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I supposethat even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. —John 21:25

LOVE this. Also... It's insanely fitting with a man we met this week.

TUESDAY was really where our week began – with an exciting District meeting on "The Importance of Planning" Aka: We got to do an "object lesson activity," making things out of marshmallows and toothpicks. We were split into groups, and the first round we weren't allowed to communicate with our group at all – no sounds, no pointing, no words, no drawing... we just had to build something together. (Honestly, ours still turned out pretty dang good! Haha.) And then we got to do it again – by first planning out what we wanted to build on paper, and then talking with each other before the actual building process. Good times :)  I hoenstly don't know why I found this so entertaining... haha. But I definitely did. Marshmallows and toothpicks. That's all it apparently takes to amuse me! (Also: Side note: Marshmallows are different here! It's a little weird!)

The afternoon continued, and we hurried our little selves over to Ester and Jaden's (a Brasillian couple in our ward) for Lunch.  It was definitely an interesting afternoon. Jaden speaks English – luckily, even better than Sister Hobbs and I were thinking he did. But... it was also still hard to understand him at times. Haha. So – we left really excited to get to know them, as well as a little tired. As we left and were on our way out to another street—rather far away, we passed by the mall and realized how much we needed a drink and toilet facilities suddenly. ...Luckily having a mall can help with both of those thigns! Ha. So we stopped in quickly, and on the way out – someone honked a few times and then suddenly we heard, "SISTERS!" It was the Butler family :)  (From the Elder's area.) They were on their way to get their car fixed, saw us, and asked if we wanted a ride somewhere! Obviously – we couldnt' say no. And it's just good to talk to them for a bit :)

Tuesday night we met a girl named Jacquie. And, goodness. We're still a little bummed out that she didn't end up coming to church yesterday.... but we're hoping that we'll at least be able to see her again. She was packing her car up when we found her, and so we stopped to chat for a bit and ended up helping her out with putting stuff in the car. She and her fiance (who's in the Military) are moving out at the end of this month, so she's getting a jump start on a few things. But we got to talking religion, and she started asking about what we beleive. Her father used to be a Mormon — but never really continued it while she was growing up apparently. So she was interested to learn at least! We talked about a few different concepts between the Restoration AND the Plan of Salvation and gave her pamphlets. So.... hopefully we get to teach her a bit more before she actually moves away! ...She's not moving too far, but far enough that it's out of our area!

WEDNESDAY.  :) WE GOT TO GARDEN. We've been telling the Frost's that we would help them out with weeding their garden in the morning. And.... we finallly got to :)  I LOVE THE GARDENING LIFE. Yes, even with the creepy, crawly bugs. It was just lovely.

WEDNESDAY was a little slow after that... but also included a lot of calling people and getting prepared for .... IVAN'S BAPTISM!!! Haha. And that night we also met Ivan at our chapel (which we found is about half an hour bike ride from our flat) and President Reid (Pres. Balli's counselor) for Ivan's Baptism interview! WOOT! And it went super well. Ivan had been stressing HARD CORE from Sunday until that moment.  and.... so it was truly the best thing for President Reid to conduct the interview instead of our District leader.... Because, while I love Elder Seelos – President Reid, as Ivan said, made the interview into more of a conversation rather than just asking questiosn. And ....that's just truly what Ivan needed! He needed to feel that ease and calm about himself to realize that he was really truly ready to make this next step,.  And, yes. :) He PASSED. Haha. But: Fun fact – during their little interview, Sister Hobbs and I were scrambling! Haha. There was this funny thing called "We forgot to bring a baptism record with us" ... Oops. So... since it would have taken us an HOUR (or more) to get back to our flat and back to the chapel again (and we honestly didn't even know if we HAD any forms at our flat) — we scrambled, calling ALL THE PEOPLE. Not only in our District – but our Zone. Ha. First: Zone leaders. But they didnt' answer. District leader: "We're in a lesson, can you call the Zone leaders?" ..And then just started calling everyone. Ha. We then got ahold of the Swanson Elders (Elder Hunter and Blandford). Who are most wonderful and came to our rescue :) – Impressively quickly as well! So... we're eternally grateful for them :)

THURSDAY! (Lots of words this week!  HaHa.) We did a bit more gardening in the morning to finish up the weeds, and it ....was just lovely. Also: The blessing of these two specific days was that the sun wasn't super hot out and it was a bit breezy. #LoveIt However... It also turned into a bit of heat-ish stroke for the two of us. Mostly Sister Hobbs in the day - mine didn't hit until that night. Ha. And it was because the back of my EAR got burnt I think.... Or something bit me. Still not sure. But my ear was definitely super red, a little swollen, and ...CRAZY hot starting that evening. And, well... just painful. Nothing else got burnt though – that's why I was confused. Just that one little area of my ear. No worries though – it's gone now :) Mostly. Ha. Faith and prayer make all things better though – so it's all goods :) Also: Swanson Elders came to the rescue, YET AGAIN. They were originally going to come pick up our bikes from us that morning to bring them somewhere to be pumped up... cause – man. The tires were FLAT AS. And making it REALLY DIFFICULT to get up the hills... and just all the things. But what did they do instead? They went and PURCHASED A BIKE PUMP. Ha. Elder Hunter said, "Ah– I figure I'll need it one day anyway. So might as well get it now!" TOO SWEET. They're wonderful. And now it's significantly easier to ride our bikes :)

FRIDAY - Rain, biking, and meeting ALLEN. It rained A LOT. Ha. And it made it hard, But it was all right. We had our last little mini lesson with Ivan around noon - and man. It rained. So... we walked to his house instead of biking, since it would help us to be a little less wet........ but we were definitely still drenched by the time we got there (...I'll also be getting an actual RAIN jacket today..... 'cause, while my coat is wonderful for the rain, it's also crazy hot for this weather...) Ha. Exciting things in the rain :) But yes – our last mini lesson with Ivan before the BIG DAY. We (or, more so, the Elders, since they come to lessons with us) brought Ivan's favourite pizza along from Pizza Hut (Meat lovers with stuffed crust and a BBQ swirl — it's actually really nice.) and we just talked about the last few things. The Elders so kindly gave us a ride home after that..... 'cause, while it's technically "against mission protocol" – it's also given from President that if it's for safety reasons, the Sisters can go with the Elders..... and it had started rainging even HARDER. Ha. It was INSANE! So as we all walked out, Elder Christiansen said, "No, Sisters, we're just giving you a ride." We were GRATEFUL. That afternoon it finally calmed down a bit, and we made our way out to find a few potentials as well as a less-active! She says she wants us to come by now and teach her son.... so we'll see how that goes!

The Tuta'i's picked us up for dinner that night and brought us to a Chinese/noodles place. Really nice, actually!And they're just adorable. We found out he's half Maori and half Cook Islander – when we'd both thought he would have been Tongan! Nope. Ha. They're super sweet though. SUPER newlywed – and Virginia is super quiet. You all think I'm quiet? Nope. Haha.

Ah! Another fun adventure about Wednesday — we had gotten a weird phonecall Tuesday from someone down in the Hamilton mission, giving a referral! But – alas, it was in the Elder's area. So we forwarded the info to them. Then –Wednesday, the mother of the person who was referred the day before CALLED US. She said she needed someone to visit her daughter because she was struggling with food and needed the Church to step in and help - and that someone needed to notify the bishop. We TRIED to tell her that it was the Elder's area - but she just said, "But wouldn't she need Sisters because she's a girl?" So..... we decided to just call the Elders and go over WITH them. ('Cause - it wasn't too far out of our area, so we could still make it there on our bikes.) ...So we set that up for Saturday night, with the Elders and just went over ourselves in the meantime to at least meet her. When we got there – there was no one home. We called the mum back, and she said, "Oh, she'll be there in 15 minutes. She's just dropping the 'cat' off somewhere." Okey-dokey? ...Nope. Never showed.  But... the partner did! His response? "Ah – sorry guys, but this is the second lot of Mormon's I've had at my door today, and I'm just not interested." Hahaha. Because – the Elders had indeed also stopped in earlier, tryin' to figure out what house it was. So... we explained what was going on and that we were looking for Ora. He said, "Ah – okay. She's at work and won't be home until really late." All goods. We went back Saturday. Still wasn't there! Partner just kind of laughed at all of us showing up together. Ha. We'll figure it out sometime!

With our little time we had left after Ora not being home, we decided to drop by this man we have on our potential's list – "Allen and family." And... wow. It turned into a very loooooooong conversation. Ha. He's a member of the "Church of the Brethren." ...And if someone could more fully explain to me what exactly that means, it'd be cool. Hehe. But the main thing we got was that "Men are saved by faith alone. Works have nothing to do with it." ....So.... yes.  It turned into a very long conversation. But - at the same time, one that I walked away from REALLY EXCITED to go back to. Because... man, I left with so many different questions to figure out — things I'm starting to study now. It also helped me realize a little part of a blessing that Elder Clements gave me before I left the North. In it he said something along the lines of how I'm not afraid to share my weaknesses with people, and that through that they'll become strengths. And.... yup, that was evident in this conversation with Allen. 'Cause – he knows Bible scriptures. He was pulling them out of everywhere. I, however, really don't know the Bible that well. Or at all really.  (Sad, yea, but... i'm gettin there.) But – I left knowing I'd learn because of the things I have to study now! Also: Because it's going to take some MAJOR faith to go back and have another conversation with him! But.... here's the thing of why I'm not necessarily scared of going back to him — he kind of started stumbling over his words, almost mentioning "works" instead of "just faith" ...Ha.  ;) I had to try really hard to not just laugh..... it was good though :) The Spirit definitely works in mysterious ways, and .... I just love it!

So.... SATURDAY :)
Ivan's BAPTISM.
It was just... beautiful. It was fun to watch him before he made this step. 'Cause he was truly and really ready. He arrived with two of his very best mates (who he originally said he wasn't going to invite! Haha) and introduced us to them. Theyr'e just lovely – and SO COOL that they wanted to come to support Ivan. Once Ivan got changed into his White clothes, he just sat in front of the font, watching the water heating and circulating. It was so exciting to just watch him ponder and think about what was about to happen. Brother Taumafai got there and went through with Ivan what was going to happen – how he was going to baptise him and whatnot. The Baptism program was just beautiful. Short and simple, just as Ivan wanted! We had Sister Gaitau speak, Elder Christiansen, and then the  baptism took place. It was the coolest feeling - watching him walk into those waters, be placed under, and – when he came out, he continued splashing himself with water! Haha. After he said, "It just felt so good!" Haha. So Sister Hobbs and I then spoke about the Restoration a bit to the audience while Ivan and Brother Taumafai got ready again. Nice, sweet, simple. And ....so exciting. Oh! And President and Sister Balli also came to the baptism!!! SO FUN. Perks of being closer to the actual city I guess! Haha.

So.... It's been a wonderful week :) OH. AND SUNDAY. We have a new investigator! :) Blessings! 'Cause... Ivan was our only really strong investigator. But – we know this new one will be solid as well. His name is Liberty. I may have talked about him a couple of weeks ago? We found him on Boxing day at a house that we thought someone else lived at. But, he had just moved in. He lives there with his 2 boys (Joshua and Joel) and his partner. We still haven't met the partner.... nor do I know her name, but we're exciting to be teaching him! Also:  He's from ZIMBABWE. Who knew how many different races of people I'd meet coming here! Haha. And, yes. He has a rather thick accent and a rather soft voice.... so it'll take some getting used to and very careful listening. Haha.

Sunday Ivan also got confirmed :) Which... was just lovely. He's so bright and strong, and we're excited 'cause he's going to hopefully be receiving the priesthood soon as well!

Life is just exciting, isnt' it? We got to see the Butlers again last night as well, and talked with them about Patriarchal Blessings, as .... I definitely have a testimony of the guidance that comes from that :) The kids are all old enough now/baptized  – and ready to get them. So, it was fun to be able to talk about that. LOVE THEM.

I love this :)  It's just... so exciting here in Henderson. I still miss my Northland like CRAZY sometimes ...but it definitely is true that the Lord knows where you need to be at what time in your life. It's interesting being a missionary and being told 'where you'll be going' —rather than saying "ah, maybe I'll try this next" Haha. Different kinds of ways to learn I guess :)

Life is beautiful, and we're excited to keep finding people, and excited for another week. Can you believe that I'm already HALF WAY through this transfer? Life man. It comes at ya fast! Also: next Monday is 7-months! Weird sauce. I'm now starting to think sometimes... "No! Wait! Slow down!"  Haha.

I love you all and miss you alls at home :) THANK YOU for all the prayers and all the things this week. — I know they helped HEAPS in calming Ivan and bringing about so many different miracles! :) Life is grand! :)

Arohanui,
Sister Mckenzie Ann Ottley