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
Sunday, June 17, 2012
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!
5/6 June 2012
Kia Ora, Kia ora!
Greetings from the Pit of Despair. I mean the Pit of Prosper-ity. Wainui is great! We've been seeing a lot of great success. Even though we just got dropped today by our recently found golden Investigator. But these things happen, and we carry on.
Sorry, by the way, for not writing yesterday. It was "The Queen's Birthday" so it's a holiday they have every year and they close everything down. I used to think that New Zealand had so many random holidays just so they could take a day off of work. But then I realized we do the same thing in America, but just with different names for the Holiday.a The week has been good though. I had the opportunity to go to Wellington for what was probably the last time, but it was cool to be able to go even though I'm not a zone leader. Elder Finlinson, one of the Assistants who's going home July, started his mission here, so he pulled some strings and did an exchange with us, and I got to enjoy the hills and views of Wellington again. I've decided, when I get a new home for the first time, I've got to live on a hill. With a great view of the city. Preferably of the ocean, but that's not much of a possibility in Utah.
Wainuiomata is a great place, and it's a lot more exciting being in an area when you actually know your way around. I feel a lot less like a little child following around his dad, and more like a missionary companionship endowed with power. I was in Palmy way too long that I still feel sometimes like I'm just on exchanges rather than actually being in a new area. Though I already know my way fairly well around the place, so that just shows how small it really is.
The ward here is really good. Everyone loves us and is happy to feed us. I hear a lot of missionaries gain a lot of weight in this area. I'm determined to fight that though. Elder Maas and I have been going running in the mornings. He runs a lot faster than one might expect, but I beat him on the hills.
We had a really great night last night as we taught the grandkids of a sister in the ward. The kids' parents are less active, so none of them have been baptized, but all six of the kids usually come to church. We taught the Plan of Salvation, though they already seemed to know quite a bit about some of the parts of it. We had each of the kids draw a different part of it on their own sheet of paper, which was basically just to color in a circle. And then we laid them all out in order and taught them about the picture they drew. Eleven-year-old Wairere drew a pretty detailed picture of the spirit paradise and the spirit prison. We had to explain to them afterwards that people won't really be burning or on fire if they go to spirit prison. The best part of the lesson though was after we had taught about the resurrection. The kids were all really excited about the idea of Resurrection, and getting a perfect body, and what we'll look like. We then said, "After we get resurrected we then get judged." Right away, nine-year-old Renee asked, "Are they going to judge us on our looks?!" So we had a good laugh about that. I hope that sounds as funny as it really was, because she seemed really concerned about it.
Well I gotta go. I love you so much and hope you have a wonderful week!
How is school already over?! Time is flying!
Love,
Elder David John Rowe
Greetings from the Pit of Despair. I mean the Pit of Prosper-ity. Wainui is great! We've been seeing a lot of great success. Even though we just got dropped today by our recently found golden Investigator. But these things happen, and we carry on.
Sorry, by the way, for not writing yesterday. It was "The Queen's Birthday" so it's a holiday they have every year and they close everything down. I used to think that New Zealand had so many random holidays just so they could take a day off of work. But then I realized we do the same thing in America, but just with different names for the Holiday.a The week has been good though. I had the opportunity to go to Wellington for what was probably the last time, but it was cool to be able to go even though I'm not a zone leader. Elder Finlinson, one of the Assistants who's going home July, started his mission here, so he pulled some strings and did an exchange with us, and I got to enjoy the hills and views of Wellington again. I've decided, when I get a new home for the first time, I've got to live on a hill. With a great view of the city. Preferably of the ocean, but that's not much of a possibility in Utah.
Wainuiomata is a great place, and it's a lot more exciting being in an area when you actually know your way around. I feel a lot less like a little child following around his dad, and more like a missionary companionship endowed with power. I was in Palmy way too long that I still feel sometimes like I'm just on exchanges rather than actually being in a new area. Though I already know my way fairly well around the place, so that just shows how small it really is.
The ward here is really good. Everyone loves us and is happy to feed us. I hear a lot of missionaries gain a lot of weight in this area. I'm determined to fight that though. Elder Maas and I have been going running in the mornings. He runs a lot faster than one might expect, but I beat him on the hills.
We had a really great night last night as we taught the grandkids of a sister in the ward. The kids' parents are less active, so none of them have been baptized, but all six of the kids usually come to church. We taught the Plan of Salvation, though they already seemed to know quite a bit about some of the parts of it. We had each of the kids draw a different part of it on their own sheet of paper, which was basically just to color in a circle. And then we laid them all out in order and taught them about the picture they drew. Eleven-year-old Wairere drew a pretty detailed picture of the spirit paradise and the spirit prison. We had to explain to them afterwards that people won't really be burning or on fire if they go to spirit prison. The best part of the lesson though was after we had taught about the resurrection. The kids were all really excited about the idea of Resurrection, and getting a perfect body, and what we'll look like. We then said, "After we get resurrected we then get judged." Right away, nine-year-old Renee asked, "Are they going to judge us on our looks?!" So we had a good laugh about that. I hope that sounds as funny as it really was, because she seemed really concerned about it.
Well I gotta go. I love you so much and hope you have a wonderful week!
How is school already over?! Time is flying!
Love,
Elder David John Rowe
Sunday, June 3, 2012
An Actual Letter
Editor's note: Elder Rowe sent us a copy of his journal entry from sometime in January. Here it is, trasncribed as closely as we are able.
2 January - 6 January 2012
This has been an amazing week. Truly amazing. I can't even list all the great things I learned or that happened. I had two more exchanges, first with Elder Finlinson in Wellington and then with Elder Metusela in Palmy. My exchange in Wellington with Elder Finlinson (from Delta, Utah) who is one of the assistants was the biggest learning experience for me. Elder Finlinson is an amazing missionary, and not because he's got a great personality or is really funny. He does everything by the Spirit and he is more diligent and organized than any missionary I've met. And so I had an amazing time in Wellington. We (well, mostly Elder Finlinson) talked with everybody we came across. The only reason someone wouldn't get talked to would be because we were already talking to someone and they snuck past as we were occupied. And what's even greater about that is considering how busy Wellington is. I think another reason I particularly loved being in Wellington is the never-ending diligence that Elder Finlinson had. We never stopped. It's not that we were at a frantic pace all day, but we were missionaries every second of the day. There was never a time to feel lazy or bored because there was always something to do, even though we were driving the whole day. (Speaking of which, it was in the Mission big beefy van van which I can't fathom how he manages to pilot and/or park around Wellington City). Every time we got out of the van and to an appointment, we managed to talk and teach some passerby about the Gospel.
As my thoughts continue to randomly spill out of my head: Wellington is full of just the most random places to live. I don't know how these people were found! There was one guy who lived among a bunch of flats about a library, and then others who lived crammed on the side of a hill with a cracked, zig-zaggy sidewalk heading down to each flat. I've never been in any place like it. It's especially weird compared to the small farming areas that other missionaries are in. But to sum up my time in Wellys, I never felt more like a missionary than on those two days. So I'm working on bringing the same feeling to Palmy.
On Wednesday and Thursday I was back in Palmy on another exchanges while Elder Tukuafu went to Wanganui. In fact, I didn't even see him between because of the traveling that took place. Elder Metusela, the most sophisticatedly hilarious Samoan missionar ever (from Melbourne) came down to teach me a few magical things. Overall, one thing I really learned from Elder Metusela is how to love everyone. Everyone said hello to him and immediately became his best friend. It's a skill I'll continually be working on.
We were able to find some really golden investigators on our exchange. One in particular is a less active lady with a non-member husband and kids. In fact this past Sunday after we found them the 15-year-old daughter and a niece of the lady (named Elly) came to Church, even though they were late. And they stayed for all three hours! So things are going great!
2 January - 6 January 2012
This has been an amazing week. Truly amazing. I can't even list all the great things I learned or that happened. I had two more exchanges, first with Elder Finlinson in Wellington and then with Elder Metusela in Palmy. My exchange in Wellington with Elder Finlinson (from Delta, Utah) who is one of the assistants was the biggest learning experience for me. Elder Finlinson is an amazing missionary, and not because he's got a great personality or is really funny. He does everything by the Spirit and he is more diligent and organized than any missionary I've met. And so I had an amazing time in Wellington. We (well, mostly Elder Finlinson) talked with everybody we came across. The only reason someone wouldn't get talked to would be because we were already talking to someone and they snuck past as we were occupied. And what's even greater about that is considering how busy Wellington is. I think another reason I particularly loved being in Wellington is the never-ending diligence that Elder Finlinson had. We never stopped. It's not that we were at a frantic pace all day, but we were missionaries every second of the day. There was never a time to feel lazy or bored because there was always something to do, even though we were driving the whole day. (Speaking of which, it was in the Mission big beefy van van which I can't fathom how he manages to pilot and/or park around Wellington City). Every time we got out of the van and to an appointment, we managed to talk and teach some passerby about the Gospel.
As my thoughts continue to randomly spill out of my head: Wellington is full of just the most random places to live. I don't know how these people were found! There was one guy who lived among a bunch of flats about a library, and then others who lived crammed on the side of a hill with a cracked, zig-zaggy sidewalk heading down to each flat. I've never been in any place like it. It's especially weird compared to the small farming areas that other missionaries are in. But to sum up my time in Wellys, I never felt more like a missionary than on those two days. So I'm working on bringing the same feeling to Palmy.
On Wednesday and Thursday I was back in Palmy on another exchanges while Elder Tukuafu went to Wanganui. In fact, I didn't even see him between because of the traveling that took place. Elder Metusela, the most sophisticatedly hilarious Samoan missionar ever (from Melbourne) came down to teach me a few magical things. Overall, one thing I really learned from Elder Metusela is how to love everyone. Everyone said hello to him and immediately became his best friend. It's a skill I'll continually be working on.
We were able to find some really golden investigators on our exchange. One in particular is a less active lady with a non-member husband and kids. In fact this past Sunday after we found them the 15-year-old daughter and a niece of the lady (named Elly) came to Church, even though they were late. And they stayed for all three hours! So things are going great!
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