Week 26

Kia Ora Whanau

This week was so happy but so sad! 

It was day light savings this week and because we're on the other side of the hemisphere we gained an hour, but my body is in such a routine that all week I was waking up at 5:30 instead of 6:30. 

This week was focused on preparing for Seiara's baptism and finding people. Finding people was a bit of a struggle but we did get to start teaching a little girl in a part member family so hopefully we can help her and her family come to church! 

We had a lesson with Daniel on Wednesday and we taught him about prophets and invited him to attend general conference (in New Zealand we watch it a week late because of the time change). He told us that if it wasn't for his belief that Saturday is the sabbath that he would get baptized. We told him that his concerns about the sabbath day are something he is going to have to take up with the Lord. But we encouraged him to keep reading his Book of Mormon and pray and come to conference because the Lord will answer his prayers as he does so. 

On Thursday, we had a lesson with Hong! She is the sweetest lady ever. She told us that she has been praying every morning and every night and it has given her a feeling of quiet peace in her heart and made her very happy. We taught her about the Book of Mormon, using the miracle of google translate, and she told us that the Book of Mormon makes her heart happy. Man I love her and getting to teach her is the coolest opportunity because the spirit does all of the teaching and we are just conduits for the spirit. 

Thursday afternoon we helped a member move to Wellington and the rain was crazy! The wipers on the car were going at max speed and you could still hardly see anything. We got soaked when we were moving her stuff from the car to the house.

Friday morning we had a zone service where we cleaned up this old man's backyard. I spent 2 hours weeding his garden but it was so fun! Friday night we had a ward activity which 2 of our investigators came to! Also a bunch of members brought non member friends so it was a great finding opportunity. 

Saturday was mostly taken up by conference! I love general conference so much! I took so many notes that I'm going to have to go through to make sure I catch everything that was said. 

Saturday night we did the final preparations for Seiara's baptism and we went and taught a lesson to a less active, part member family. They were all so intrigued about prophets and what they can do for us. We invited them to come to conference the next day and listen to the prophet. They all said they would come (they didn't come). 

Sunday was full of conference and the baptism!  Seiara basically spent the entire day at the chapel between conference and the baptism which was honestly nice because then we could keep an eye on her in case she started getting nervous. If I could have every person I teach watch conference right before their baptism I would. The spirit was so strong all day! 

The baptism was really beautiful. She had so many friends and family come to support her, and basically the entire ward as well. There were 2 musical numbers and talks given by the missionaries and members. She was baptized by her friend Spencer, the person who invited her to church for the first time way back in December. It was such a special day. She bore her testimony afterwards which was so sincere and heart felt. You can really tell that she loves the gospel. 

After her baptism her mom came up to me and gave me a big hug. It was honestly the greatest gift because I know that her mom and dad are so proud of Seiara for making this choice, even though they aren't members themselves. 

So the happy part of the week was that Seiara finally got to be baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! The sad part is that after 6 months in the Hutt, I am getting transfered. I love this area so much. The people have become my family. I am sad to say goodbye but I am excited to get to go have new experiences that will help me grow and hopefully I will be able to help others accept of the restored gospel. I am going to Timaru in the Dunedin Zone on the South Island! My new companion is Sister Tapumania from Samoa! I met her back at mission tour and she is really awesome. I'm excited to get to work with her! Packing my things after 6 months of accumulation and having to fit baggage restrictions on a plane is a struggle, but worth it. My new address is 8 Avenue road Timaru 7910. 

My spiritual thought this week comes from general conference. Sister Becky Craven in her talk entitled "Casual versus Careful" talks about how easy it is to be casual in our gospel learning. She talks about how dangerous it is to be casual about something that should be taken very seriously because the consequences are so large. She said that if we consistantly do the basics, study our scriptures, say our prayers, attend the temple, attend sacrament meeting, study the Come Follow Me curriculum then we can be confident that we will gain eternal life. I have learned over the course of my mission that it really is about taking the basics seriously and never making any justifications. If you do that, your testimony will be strong enough to support you through anything. 

Ofa Atu

Sister Olson

Koutou Katoa Ra


Woke up to this

Hong, Me, Sister Crichton... 3 different languages but the same book and the same truth

Biking in the rain

Fale family

Me and Seiara

Seiara and Spencer who baptized her

Me and Seiara

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