Kia Ora! Ke te pehia
koe?
I'm out of adjectives to describe how my week has been. But it was...good. It
went by so fast, yet the things I did on Tuesday and Wednesday seem like they
were weeks ago.
Tuesday was a bit of an interesting one. I now claim myself to
be a certified carpenter and roofer. Our ward mission leader, Bro Ure (who is
also our landlord), is quite the handy man. Cars, houses, plumbing, electrical
things, you name it, he can probably fix it. Or at least he'll attempt to. But
always being prepared to fix something or replace something for
someone requires the storage of parts and pieces of everything that you can
ever imagine breaking. But to keep the story of Bro Ure short, on Tuesday we
went to his house to help him finish the lean-to/shed we started helping him
with last week--doing the final supports and putting the metal and plastic
sheets on for the roof. This shed is to put all of the stuff (or at least some
it) from the side of his house and backyard into it. So I felt like more of a
man that day as we finished it, and my hammering skills increased tenfold.
Anyway. Because our water heater had been leaking the night before, after
we had finished the shed, we got in the van to go back home. Next thing we saw
was Bro Ure rolling a massive spare water-heater tank that he had somewhere in
his backyard. We put it in the van. So then we spent the next couple
of hours doing service for our own house. I've never realized how little I know
about repairing and building things until I came on my mission. "You mean
you can actually do that yourself?!"
Wainui is doing well, and it's amazing how many wonderful families we're
teaching here. Look forward to me preparing the best games for FHE when I get
home.
Time's going by way too fast! Transfers are in three weeks, and then I'm on my last
one! That's terrifying. Every morning when I wake up and say my prayers, I
realize that time is disappearing and my goals are getting farther from being
reached. So I appreciate your love and support and reminders of diligence.
The story about the birds is way cool. That's the best way to have a pet--one
that lives outside and takes care of itself, but whose beauty you still get to
enjoy. ;)
I love you all, and miss hearing about from the girls, but as we know, there
are consequences to our actions. I re-learn that everyday! Just make you write
in your journals so that you can tell me what you did all of these weeks that i
don't get to hear what you did!
I gotta go! But I love you so,
Just remember:
"True happiness comes only by making others happy"---David O. McKay
Keep doing what is right, and praying day and night!
Have a wonderful week!
I love you all so very much!
Love,
Elder David John Rowe
Sunday, September 2, 2012
The Storms Won't Cease July 15/16, 2012
Hello Family
I feel like Paikea the whale rider with all of this rain that's happening here. And no, I haven't seen The Whale Rider. I've just heard plenty about it, particularly when I meet someone named Paikea. We'll have to put on my list of 100 movies to watch when I get home. Of course it will be near the top of the list, with Harry Potter 7 being the first and second.
But anyway, back to the rain. It's been pouring here! And what makes it worse is the wind which blows it sideways. We usually hold our umbrellas almost horizontally to keep our heads dry. I hope imagining that gives you a laugh.
When it rains, continuously that is, Elder Maas and I tend to just walk around with umbrellas rather than biking and getting soaked. Our pants still get soaked, but at least our heads are slightly drier than they would be otherwise. Walking slows us down quite a bit compared to a bike, but Wainui is small enough that if we plan accordingly (like working in one area) then we're still able to get a lot done. Actually the funny thing is that we actually seemed to accomplish a lot more on the days we walk and can only visit a few people than on the days we bike from house to house to see who's home. This happened a few days this week. A mission is strange like that. However one reason for that might be is that when walking, we ponder a bit longer before we decide to go somewhere because it will take so much longer, whereas on bikes, if we think about seeing someone, we'll just go for it. So in the words of President Uchtdorf, we can benefit a lot by slowing down our lives a little!
That's awesome to hear about the information you found about the Jeters. The family history library is even more amazing than I thought! It's funny how some non-members know more about the Library in Salt lake than I do. Will you be able to find out if we're related to Derek Jeter?! ;) Family History is one thing that I really hope to get into more once I get home. I didn't realize it's importance before my mission as much as I do now.
Sorry for the lame email, ans sorry I can't say more. Thanks for all you do for me. I'm still loving the mission and I realize more and more everyday how little time I have. So I work harder!
gotta go
love,
dave
I feel like Paikea the whale rider with all of this rain that's happening here. And no, I haven't seen The Whale Rider. I've just heard plenty about it, particularly when I meet someone named Paikea. We'll have to put on my list of 100 movies to watch when I get home. Of course it will be near the top of the list, with Harry Potter 7 being the first and second.
But anyway, back to the rain. It's been pouring here! And what makes it worse is the wind which blows it sideways. We usually hold our umbrellas almost horizontally to keep our heads dry. I hope imagining that gives you a laugh.
When it rains, continuously that is, Elder Maas and I tend to just walk around with umbrellas rather than biking and getting soaked. Our pants still get soaked, but at least our heads are slightly drier than they would be otherwise. Walking slows us down quite a bit compared to a bike, but Wainui is small enough that if we plan accordingly (like working in one area) then we're still able to get a lot done. Actually the funny thing is that we actually seemed to accomplish a lot more on the days we walk and can only visit a few people than on the days we bike from house to house to see who's home. This happened a few days this week. A mission is strange like that. However one reason for that might be is that when walking, we ponder a bit longer before we decide to go somewhere because it will take so much longer, whereas on bikes, if we think about seeing someone, we'll just go for it. So in the words of President Uchtdorf, we can benefit a lot by slowing down our lives a little!
That's awesome to hear about the information you found about the Jeters. The family history library is even more amazing than I thought! It's funny how some non-members know more about the Library in Salt lake than I do. Will you be able to find out if we're related to Derek Jeter?! ;) Family History is one thing that I really hope to get into more once I get home. I didn't realize it's importance before my mission as much as I do now.
Sorry for the lame email, ans sorry I can't say more. Thanks for all you do for me. I'm still loving the mission and I realize more and more everyday how little time I have. So I work harder!
gotta go
love,
dave
The Start of July - July 9/10, 2012
G'day Rowe family!
Things are...happening in Wainui. Though I can't say I have half as many exciting things going on in my neck of the woods (and I do feel like I live in the woods) as there are happening in Utah.
There was an earthquake, though. I guess that was pretty exciting, but it just seems like a normal occurence to me, even though I haven't felt one in a while. I almost forgot about it, actually. Elder Maas and I were just getting ready for bed when it happened. It was pretty funny, because before it happened, I was finishing coloring the paper flag Elder Maas made for the 4th of July the next day. As I was vigorously coloring, Elder Maas was in the other room when he saw things rattling on his dresser, and he shouted "Elder Rowe, stop coloring for a second!" I asked him why, and then my whole desk started to shake. So I shouted, "What are you doing?!" --thinking he was causing it. Then he ran into the room and the earthquake finished with a big rumble. Then we looked at each other with a "what-just-happened?" type of face. And then I went to sleep. No biggie. But yeah, my heart was beating a bit faster than normal.
The next morning we woke up to celebrate Independence day. Because we're such noble patriots, we hopped out of our beds and said the Pledge of Allegiance. We later sang all three verses (which I didn't even realize existed) of the Star Spangled Banner to start off our companionship study. We kept trying to think of 4th of July things to do all day but we couldn't come up with any good ideas besides eating hamburgers and hotdogs. Since we have "patties and sausages" all the time, it didn't sound that great, mainly because they don't taste very good unless you're really hungry or they're free. Then at the end of the day we realized we should have celebrated it on the 5th because that's when you would be celebrating it back home.
Our investigators are doing great! It's so great to see the joy they all have as each of them progress in the Gospel in different ways (reading the Book of Mormon, coming to church, or even saying a prayer out loud with us). One boy we're teaching has been going to Primary for years but his dad won't let him get baptized. He conducted a whole Primary activity we were invited to on Friday. That was awesome to see. Another amazing thing about Wainui is that we seem to find a new part-member family every week! its great!
gotts go bye!~
i love you!
Things are...happening in Wainui. Though I can't say I have half as many exciting things going on in my neck of the woods (and I do feel like I live in the woods) as there are happening in Utah.
There was an earthquake, though. I guess that was pretty exciting, but it just seems like a normal occurence to me, even though I haven't felt one in a while. I almost forgot about it, actually. Elder Maas and I were just getting ready for bed when it happened. It was pretty funny, because before it happened, I was finishing coloring the paper flag Elder Maas made for the 4th of July the next day. As I was vigorously coloring, Elder Maas was in the other room when he saw things rattling on his dresser, and he shouted "Elder Rowe, stop coloring for a second!" I asked him why, and then my whole desk started to shake. So I shouted, "What are you doing?!" --thinking he was causing it. Then he ran into the room and the earthquake finished with a big rumble. Then we looked at each other with a "what-just-happened?" type of face. And then I went to sleep. No biggie. But yeah, my heart was beating a bit faster than normal.
The next morning we woke up to celebrate Independence day. Because we're such noble patriots, we hopped out of our beds and said the Pledge of Allegiance. We later sang all three verses (which I didn't even realize existed) of the Star Spangled Banner to start off our companionship study. We kept trying to think of 4th of July things to do all day but we couldn't come up with any good ideas besides eating hamburgers and hotdogs. Since we have "patties and sausages" all the time, it didn't sound that great, mainly because they don't taste very good unless you're really hungry or they're free. Then at the end of the day we realized we should have celebrated it on the 5th because that's when you would be celebrating it back home.
Our investigators are doing great! It's so great to see the joy they all have as each of them progress in the Gospel in different ways (reading the Book of Mormon, coming to church, or even saying a prayer out loud with us). One boy we're teaching has been going to Primary for years but his dad won't let him get baptized. He conducted a whole Primary activity we were invited to on Friday. That was awesome to see. Another amazing thing about Wainui is that we seem to find a new part-member family every week! its great!
gotts go bye!~
i love you!
July 1/2, 2012 - Wonderful Wainui
Helloooo! (I'm
running out of clever things to greet you with)
Transfers are this week! I'm staying of course. It's weird seeing the names of the missionaries who are going home, it makes me feel super old. Especially because no one goes home in the August transfer, which means I'm on the following list of missionaries going home. But luckily I've still got 3 months to accomplish my goals. It's seems long sometimes, but other times, too short.
Crazily enough, Elder Maas is also staying for yet another transfer here. It will be 9 months by the time he leaves here. Which is especially rare to stay in your first area for so long. But luckily Wainui is on fire, so there's no reason for him to want to leave. And by "on fire" I mean in a very different than the way it is for you in Utah.
I can't believe all of that is happening. I heard from some stranger about the fires going on in "Colorado or something" but he didn't mention Utah. I'm glad to hear you're all okay.
It's been a great week here in the Promised Land and our investigators are continually progressing. We had seven investigators at Church yesterday. Hopefully next week will be like ten. It's quite amazing how many great families/couples we are actually teaching, it's almost hard to keep track of them all.
One spiritual experience of the week was on Wednesday, when I went to go see Tom (the guy who gave us groceries). I was on exchanges with Elder Ebel (he's from the Marshall Islands) and we were able to see Tom and his family last thing for the night. During dinner he mentioned his desire to come back to church, but that he's trying to sort things out first before he comes back, (like quitting smoking and drinking). He asked us the most humble question I think I've heard: "I really want to know, what do YOU think about that idea? I want an honest answer." So what I related to him was how coming to church is like going to the hospital. We don't go to the hospital when we're healthy, but we go when we're sick. Same with church, we're all spiritually sick, and so we shouldn't wait until we're healthy again until we go back. He really liked that idea. After dinner he asked some other similar questions and I tried to explain to him how the Lord helps us overcome weaknesses, but it didn't seem to stick as my other response did. I then turned to Elder Ebel who pretty much hadn't said anything. I asked him What he thought. Elder Ebel then told Tom about his own conversion experience a few years ago and how he had to overcome similar temptations. He said when the missionaries were teaching him he would go to church on Sunday and then a few days later would be tempted to smoke. But as he was about to do it he would think about Sunday and feel guilty and would then be able to not smoke. It was exactly what Tom needed to hear.
Well i gotta go! Happy Birthday again! Thanks for the pictures. Are my sisters getting older or going back in time? They've got some groovy threads and shades.
I love you bye!
Transfers are this week! I'm staying of course. It's weird seeing the names of the missionaries who are going home, it makes me feel super old. Especially because no one goes home in the August transfer, which means I'm on the following list of missionaries going home. But luckily I've still got 3 months to accomplish my goals. It's seems long sometimes, but other times, too short.
Crazily enough, Elder Maas is also staying for yet another transfer here. It will be 9 months by the time he leaves here. Which is especially rare to stay in your first area for so long. But luckily Wainui is on fire, so there's no reason for him to want to leave. And by "on fire" I mean in a very different than the way it is for you in Utah.
I can't believe all of that is happening. I heard from some stranger about the fires going on in "Colorado or something" but he didn't mention Utah. I'm glad to hear you're all okay.
It's been a great week here in the Promised Land and our investigators are continually progressing. We had seven investigators at Church yesterday. Hopefully next week will be like ten. It's quite amazing how many great families/couples we are actually teaching, it's almost hard to keep track of them all.
One spiritual experience of the week was on Wednesday, when I went to go see Tom (the guy who gave us groceries). I was on exchanges with Elder Ebel (he's from the Marshall Islands) and we were able to see Tom and his family last thing for the night. During dinner he mentioned his desire to come back to church, but that he's trying to sort things out first before he comes back, (like quitting smoking and drinking). He asked us the most humble question I think I've heard: "I really want to know, what do YOU think about that idea? I want an honest answer." So what I related to him was how coming to church is like going to the hospital. We don't go to the hospital when we're healthy, but we go when we're sick. Same with church, we're all spiritually sick, and so we shouldn't wait until we're healthy again until we go back. He really liked that idea. After dinner he asked some other similar questions and I tried to explain to him how the Lord helps us overcome weaknesses, but it didn't seem to stick as my other response did. I then turned to Elder Ebel who pretty much hadn't said anything. I asked him What he thought. Elder Ebel then told Tom about his own conversion experience a few years ago and how he had to overcome similar temptations. He said when the missionaries were teaching him he would go to church on Sunday and then a few days later would be tempted to smoke. But as he was about to do it he would think about Sunday and feel guilty and would then be able to not smoke. It was exactly what Tom needed to hear.
Well i gotta go! Happy Birthday again! Thanks for the pictures. Are my sisters getting older or going back in time? They've got some groovy threads and shades.
I love you bye!
Saturday, September 1, 2012
June 24/25, 2012
Greetings from the Bowl! To answer your
question Dad, Wellington is visible from across the bay, down in the Hutt, but
we're at the top of a hill, down in a pit, so all we can see is the hills
surrounding us on every side. Which is really quite scenic, but it gets cold
and dark really fast. And it's a magnet for rain and winds. But it's the best, of
course. The view at the top of the bowl to go down to the Hutt is awesome
because you can see the bay and both Hutt Valley and Wellington. But the only
time we see it is when we're riding the bus into town for P-day or District
Meeting.
Happy Birthday to Kaffs and Sare-bear!
Camping on you birthday sounds pretty fun! Enjoy some mud cake or some
Sparkling Rain in a tin can. I'll be sure to eat some real cake for you. I do
hope you have a great one!
Throughout my mission, I never thought I
could get sick of eating meat pies. But because Elder Maas and get fed quite
well here for dinners, our freezer is pretty full of frozen delicacies and
we've been eating a lot of them the past couple of weeks. Meat pies are amazing
(as long as you don't have too many of them). It's simply just a pie crust and
top, with minced meat and melted cheese substance all floating in a gooey
gravy. My favorite are the ones with steak chunks inside instead of mince. (And
by steak i mean roast beef or something). You just pull one or two from the
package in your freezer, microwave for 3 minutes, and then if I'm feeling fancy
I'll put it in the oven to crisp it up. And then you dip it in sauce. Usually
some ketchup and mayo (fry sauce). It's definitely on our menu for when you
come over.
This has been a really productive week.
Great things are afoot. We've found some wonderful part-member families who love
us, but more importantly, love the Lord. It's strange how sometimes during the
day, it seems we don't know what to do, but in the evenings when everyone is
home, we don't have enough time to see everyone we need to! It's wonderful
being busy. I lose my mind when I don't have anything to do. Sorry I don't have
to much to say today, but I'll keep you updated more next week about the
progress of these wonderful people. And sorry I can't send pictures. It;s
really complicated and slow, Ill try again next week to send at least one.
"True happiness comes only by making others happy"---David O. McKay
Keep doing what is right, and praying day and night!
Have a wonderful week!
I love you all so very much!
Love,
Elder David John Rowe
Sunday, June 17, 2012
17/18 June 2012 - Happy Father's Day
Hello Hello!
Tena Kotou Whanau means in Maori (Hello (to you all) Family) maybe...
There's a reason why I don't always send the translation: because I'm not always entirely sure if I'm writing it correctly. So I'll just let you pretend I'm fluent in all Island languages. Our Elder's Quorum President is Fijian, so Bula Vinaka!
Wet Greetings from Rain-ewy-no-mata! Or something like that. It rains so much here. Luckily it's not today, at least it isn't hasn't started yet. But we're strong and we carry on.
I've thought about playing rugby when I go home, only for fun, of course. But it requires a lot of skill, which I still haven't mastered yet, so I don't plan on giving any lessons, just hoping to find some islanders in Utah who I can "have a run" with. As for the Haka, I shamefully haven't even learned it yet. At least not as well as I should have, but I will be perfecting it before my return. That way I can do it down the escalator at the airport. :) I know some other Utah missionaries have talked about doing that when they get off the plane in SLC. But that would be a lot cooler as a group of studly Elders doing the Haka together than for one odd looking missionary doing it by himself. I would probably get tackled by Security for being a mad man.
Thanks for your funny emails. I'm glad to hear you miss my constant desire for a cobweb-free front porch. My habit for outside cleanliness has carried with me and I always get a slight twitch when I go door-knocking because so many people have cobwebs all over their front door. One investigator of ours has spiderwebs all over her door and you can see the spiders crawling around. Elder Maas (who hates spiders) commented on it, and she says she likes them there, and would feel to cruel to kill them. So Elder Maas always makes me be the one to knock on the door so he can stand as far away as possible from any arachnids above us.
Elder Maas and I had a neat experience this weekend. We have a lot of names, given from different people or found in the area book that we're going through, and so we spent Saturday evening trying to find them and set up appointments. There was a name of a ten-year-old boy in my planner that we had met the first week I got to Wainui. He said, "Hi Missionaries!" as we were biking down the street and told us his name was Antonio and a last name I couldn't understand. Elder Maas didn't know who he was so we asked if we could come by and meet his family. He gave us his address, which I also couldn't understand so I wrote down what I thought it sounded like.
So that bring us to earlier in the week, when I was looking through my planner, found his name and made a mental note to try and see him sometime. To make a long story short. On Saturday night, we biked to the top of town to a small little cul-de-sac and down a long driveway in the dark and found this address. So it turned out that this boy's father was a former member of the Church. He seemed a bit drunk but was happy to see us and set up a time to "give us a feed" on Wednesday night. But we walked away wondering if he would remember.
Before we left for church yesterday morning, we got a knock on our door, and there stood Tom (the formerly drunk guy) who said, "Remember me?" He then ran back to his car and brought in heaps of groceries for us. He said, "If there's one thing my mother taught me, it was to take care of the missionaries." We were shocked, one that he would do that for us, two that he even knew where we lived (but then again I think everyone in Wainui knows where we live). We thanked him again and again. And then ten minutes later he came back with some meat pies from the bakery. He said "make sure you say a good prayer on those because I bought them on a Sunday."
We then walked to church with a smile of gratitude/confusion on our faces.
Well, Igotta go! I love you so! happy Father's day Dad!,
Love,
Elder Rowe
Tena Kotou Whanau means in Maori (Hello (to you all) Family) maybe...
There's a reason why I don't always send the translation: because I'm not always entirely sure if I'm writing it correctly. So I'll just let you pretend I'm fluent in all Island languages. Our Elder's Quorum President is Fijian, so Bula Vinaka!
Wet Greetings from Rain-ewy-no-mata! Or something like that. It rains so much here. Luckily it's not today, at least it isn't hasn't started yet. But we're strong and we carry on.
I've thought about playing rugby when I go home, only for fun, of course. But it requires a lot of skill, which I still haven't mastered yet, so I don't plan on giving any lessons, just hoping to find some islanders in Utah who I can "have a run" with. As for the Haka, I shamefully haven't even learned it yet. At least not as well as I should have, but I will be perfecting it before my return. That way I can do it down the escalator at the airport. :) I know some other Utah missionaries have talked about doing that when they get off the plane in SLC. But that would be a lot cooler as a group of studly Elders doing the Haka together than for one odd looking missionary doing it by himself. I would probably get tackled by Security for being a mad man.
Thanks for your funny emails. I'm glad to hear you miss my constant desire for a cobweb-free front porch. My habit for outside cleanliness has carried with me and I always get a slight twitch when I go door-knocking because so many people have cobwebs all over their front door. One investigator of ours has spiderwebs all over her door and you can see the spiders crawling around. Elder Maas (who hates spiders) commented on it, and she says she likes them there, and would feel to cruel to kill them. So Elder Maas always makes me be the one to knock on the door so he can stand as far away as possible from any arachnids above us.
Elder Maas and I had a neat experience this weekend. We have a lot of names, given from different people or found in the area book that we're going through, and so we spent Saturday evening trying to find them and set up appointments. There was a name of a ten-year-old boy in my planner that we had met the first week I got to Wainui. He said, "Hi Missionaries!" as we were biking down the street and told us his name was Antonio and a last name I couldn't understand. Elder Maas didn't know who he was so we asked if we could come by and meet his family. He gave us his address, which I also couldn't understand so I wrote down what I thought it sounded like.
So that bring us to earlier in the week, when I was looking through my planner, found his name and made a mental note to try and see him sometime. To make a long story short. On Saturday night, we biked to the top of town to a small little cul-de-sac and down a long driveway in the dark and found this address. So it turned out that this boy's father was a former member of the Church. He seemed a bit drunk but was happy to see us and set up a time to "give us a feed" on Wednesday night. But we walked away wondering if he would remember.
Before we left for church yesterday morning, we got a knock on our door, and there stood Tom (the formerly drunk guy) who said, "Remember me?" He then ran back to his car and brought in heaps of groceries for us. He said, "If there's one thing my mother taught me, it was to take care of the missionaries." We were shocked, one that he would do that for us, two that he even knew where we lived (but then again I think everyone in Wainui knows where we live). We thanked him again and again. And then ten minutes later he came back with some meat pies from the bakery. He said "make sure you say a good prayer on those because I bought them on a Sunday."
We then walked to church with a smile of gratitude/confusion on our faces.
Well, Igotta go! I love you so! happy Father's day Dad!,
Love,
Elder Rowe
10/11June 2012
Tena Kotou Whanau!
Things are good in the 'hood of Wainui!
We'll begin with the most exciting news. We had a baptism on Saturday for a man named Peter! His wife has been a member for a while, and his son got baptized last year, and now he's finally made the decision for himself. So it was great, and they're already talking about going to the temple next year! I, of course, didn't do anything to make it all happen, but it's definitely a great start to boost me for the rest of my time here. He was so happy on Saturday and Sunday, and it will be wonderful to see the impact it will have on his family.
We also had our zone conference on Friday. Fantastic as expected! Zone conferences are always a Spiritual treat, especially when you no longer are in charge of organizing them. Actually, it was really weird, but wonderfully relaxing not having to be responsible for anyone or anything but yourself. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy being responsible. The Kezerians put a picture of my zone on their blog. See if you can spot me and my special haircut.
The Wainuiomata ward is great. I feel like I know everyone already. Sort of. Hopefully by next week, I'll know everyone's names. That's because one, I'm really good with remembering people's names, and two, the ward isn't that big--about 70 active members. There are a lot more Maori's in my ward than in Palmy, and like most small towns in NZ, all of them seem to be related. Just like in Levin, most of the sisters in the ward are referred to as Auntie and then their first name. So it's hard to find out their last names.
One hard thing about trying to get to know the members better, is that a lot of the members all live near the end of a really long street, which is slightly uphill and is always windy, with the wind blowing the wrong way, of course. I'm still getting used to biking everywhere. I think my bike has shrunken over the past few months because I have to put my seat real high, and sit far back on it, otherwise I'm leaning over the handlebars farther than desirable. You can picture that in your head if you wish.
I really enjoy working with Elder Maas, sorry i haven't sent any pictures yet, the computers here are special. Elder Maas and I get along really well, and always have something to talk about with the other. I think that comes with being American, and not understanding Rugby (because that's what other missionaries talk about). But I don't know if I told you, but Elder Maas is a musical genius. Seriously. Name any song that he's heard before, and he can play it on the piano. Anything! But the funny thing is that he can't read music, so playing for church or meetings is a bit of a challenge.
gotta go bye!
Things are good in the 'hood of Wainui!
We'll begin with the most exciting news. We had a baptism on Saturday for a man named Peter! His wife has been a member for a while, and his son got baptized last year, and now he's finally made the decision for himself. So it was great, and they're already talking about going to the temple next year! I, of course, didn't do anything to make it all happen, but it's definitely a great start to boost me for the rest of my time here. He was so happy on Saturday and Sunday, and it will be wonderful to see the impact it will have on his family.
We also had our zone conference on Friday. Fantastic as expected! Zone conferences are always a Spiritual treat, especially when you no longer are in charge of organizing them. Actually, it was really weird, but wonderfully relaxing not having to be responsible for anyone or anything but yourself. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy being responsible. The Kezerians put a picture of my zone on their blog. See if you can spot me and my special haircut.
The Wainuiomata ward is great. I feel like I know everyone already. Sort of. Hopefully by next week, I'll know everyone's names. That's because one, I'm really good with remembering people's names, and two, the ward isn't that big--about 70 active members. There are a lot more Maori's in my ward than in Palmy, and like most small towns in NZ, all of them seem to be related. Just like in Levin, most of the sisters in the ward are referred to as Auntie and then their first name. So it's hard to find out their last names.
One hard thing about trying to get to know the members better, is that a lot of the members all live near the end of a really long street, which is slightly uphill and is always windy, with the wind blowing the wrong way, of course. I'm still getting used to biking everywhere. I think my bike has shrunken over the past few months because I have to put my seat real high, and sit far back on it, otherwise I'm leaning over the handlebars farther than desirable. You can picture that in your head if you wish.
I really enjoy working with Elder Maas, sorry i haven't sent any pictures yet, the computers here are special. Elder Maas and I get along really well, and always have something to talk about with the other. I think that comes with being American, and not understanding Rugby (because that's what other missionaries talk about). But I don't know if I told you, but Elder Maas is a musical genius. Seriously. Name any song that he's heard before, and he can play it on the piano. Anything! But the funny thing is that he can't read music, so playing for church or meetings is a bit of a challenge.
gotta go bye!
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