Dear Whanau and Ehoa!
New Zealand is great!
This past week has been a great one!
Earlier this week, the Zone Leaders called and said we were going to start a tradeoff that night. So, we did. I went to Hamilton for a while to work in their area with E. Atalifo and E. Felemi (They are in a tripanionship until this transfer in January comes up because E. Felemi's previous companion's visa expired early, so he is going to finish his mission in Tonga, his home country.) Well, they basically forced me to talk to heaps of people. I taught pretty well, and I could talk to people. Nevertheless, I still walked past a few people without saying a word because I didn't have a clue what to say. Lol... But I did talk to people and teach better than I have in the past. :-) So, it was a great week! :-)
I had the "wonderful" opportunity to drive in Hamilton, because I was the only driver out of us three Elders. Well, I think that the roads are best described by E. Ngalu's words: "It's like the road fairy came and just spewed roads all over New Zealand!" Well, the roads are terrible. If you don't believe me, look at a Google Maps view of Auckland or Hamilton. If you live in the East Coast of America, the roads will be similar. But if you live anywhere in the West, the roads are terrible. Block systems are inspired. :-)
Another thing about Zone Leaders. I haven't recieved my mail in 3 weeks. Yay... I wish I had an address that yous could send me letters to, besides the one in Auckland. Oh Well. Nothing to be done about it.
So, I know that I used to say Maori like M-owe-ree. But, the best way I've had it described it to me is to say the word Moldy, but to take the d out, replace it with a r, and to barely pronounce the l. Also, the R is rolled a tiny bit. Not like a Spanish Roll, but a light roll. So, Mo-ri.
The vowels are Ah, Eh, Ee, Oh, Ooh. Only. So, when you see ai, it is i like in Bike (ah-ee fast sounds like i). ao is ow. (ah-oh fast = ow). Etc. :-) And Wh is F. So, Whatawhata is Fah-tah-fah-tah.
So, we have a few new Investigators!
First off, theres Brooke! She was taught for a while before, but she was dropped because of Parental Consent. She comes to all the activities, and sometimes comes to church. She is set for baptism on the 29th, but we might change that.
Then there's Mike. He's interesting. He's a troubled man in his 20s. He gets into some trouble with the law and other people. But, he is/was set for Jan 4. But we might need to change that, because It's been really hard to catch him as of late.
We have Shane (this Shane is April's son. There are two Shanes. It's confusing, but I can't share their last names, because that's not very kind of me, and not safe.). He is a wanna-be gangster! He really thinks he's all that, but man, a real gang would eat him alive. It's kinda crazy to see all these kids trying to be in gangs. As I have found out though, New Zealand gangs are nothing compared to some of the gangs you can find in New York and places like that. Yeesh. Gangs are stupid. Don't ever be in one. It's just an all around terrible idea.
There is a potential investigator, and he name is Georgia. She is Tyesha's friend. She is not yet an intestivator, because we haven't taught just her a lesson. But she will be. :-)
Also, there is a Family, Tash and Carl, who were taught for a while before, but were dropped before I cames because there was waaay too much drama. We've been trying to catch them at a good time, because they seem pretty keen. They have two girls.
Lastly, there is this young girl that we met yesterday. Her name is Hope. She is 9, and her parents are non-members, so technically, we could baptize her, because she comes to church all the time. However, this is something that the members and missionaries refer to as Kiddie-Dunking. These type of converts generally walk in the front door of the gospel and walk straight out the back door. So, we are not going to baptize her wihtout her family unless she is absolutely going to stay active forever. But, families are heaps better.
There is no one else that is really the big of a player. Rahiri and his family got back from working last night, so we're gonna assess what to do about him. He definitely can be baptized, but we just need to see.
Like I mentioned last week, I gave me camera to the Bishop's (now he's the Stake President) Son. I just got it back yesterday before Church. He did much more than take pictures of the lights at the temple. He took pictures of heaps of random things. So, I need to go through and delete just about a million pictures. :-) But, I'll put some pictures of the temple lights up so you can see. They are weak-sauce if you've ever been to SLC Temple Square at Christmas, but they are still pretty cool. :-)
Lastly, On Saturday we went on a ward activity to Raglan. It's useless for me to try to explain to you where it is, since you still wouldn't have a clue. It suffices to say that it's on the West Coast of New Zealand. Anyways, we got special permission from President Lekias to go to this Ward Activity since it's out of our area (Our area does go all the way to the coast, but Raglan is about 10k south of the border of our area. Anyways, we went to a beach/park area to play games and eat a Hangi (food unique to NZ.). The water looked really nice. Too bad that we couldn't go for a swim. Oh well. I might just have to take a swim in the bathtub. ;-) Jk. :-) It was really fun. I didn't burn! E. Ngalu did! Lol... Funny Funny. I'm white, he's brown, but he's the one that burned. :-)
Well, That's all I have to write!
Love,
E. Cache Staheli
Pictures
1. The Visitor's Center of The Hamilton, NZ Temple
2. The Temple, with some Christmas lights next to it. :-)
3. The temple close up (duh. :-))
4. The temple, just as Dusk is hitting.
5. A view of some of the bushes, also with the VC in the background.
All the other pictures were of the ground or something. ;-) :-)
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