Buenas Dias and Talofa Lava mi familia,
To answer everyone's most important question, I'm doing fantastic! I'm lovin' Levin and am very excited for what lies ahead.
I rode the bus down from Napier on Thursday with 3 other missionaries and was pretty excited to give away a Book of Mormon on the bus to a guy from Chicago who was here on vacation.
Levin is a wonderful little town. It's not that small actually, in the sense that there are plenty of people to meet and greet, but the area is pretty small geographically. We also cover an even smaller town about 30 minutes away called Otaki, and so I'll be using the car to go down there.
My companion is Elder Cerros from Melbourne, Australia. He is "El Salvadorian" (his parents are from El Salvador) and so we always speak Spanish! Though he keeps saying I speak better Spanish than he does, even though he went to a Spanish ward in Melbourne. He's only been on his mission for 6 weeks, but no worries there, because he's already a pro. He knows the area really well and is a wonderful companion to be working with. We get along great and work together and teach in unity already! We're pretty amazing. That's not boasting.
Levin is such a wonderful area and I love it already. It seems like every other person we talk to wants to hear about the Gospel! So these next couple of weeks are going to be filled with teaching the Restoration! I'm very excited! Can you tell!?
Something else I love about Levin is all the Samoans. I getting back into my roots and speaking Samoan again. I'm always quick to toss a "Talofa Lava" or an "Oa mai oi" to my brothers. Of course we always say the usual Kia Ora, but I know a lot more Samoan (like 5 phrases more) than I do Maori. And no one actually speaks Maori better than English so it's not really used all that much. But most of the Samoans who live here are still learning English. The kids speak English perfectly, and so the kids are sometimes translators for their parents. So that's why I'm working up on speaking Samoan, along with the Spanish with Elder Cerros. So I'll probably be fluent in 3 languages when I get home, even though I'm in an English speaking mission.
Anyway, other random facts I'm sure you'd want to know:
We live in a house, not a flat, but a house. It's pretty big for two teenagers to live in. And the backyard is the biggest one I've seen so far in New Zealand. Literally. Excluding farms of course.
But I love it here, even though I still miss Napier. I'm happy. But then again, I always am.
I love you ALL very very much and can't truly express how much I appreciate all of the love and support I get from you.
So, Thank you
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
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