"Pencils in the Wind"

Been a pretty slow week here in Tokoroa and not much has happened except for we did manage to get one of our Investigators to come to church in Putaruru. She has two sisters, one is a member and the other is not and on Sunday we met with all 3 of them. I didn't get transfered out of Tokoroa so I'll be here another 6 weeks but there is definintely plenty of work for us to do. My companion woke up feeling sick today so I had to clean the whole flat by myself but thats just how it goes I guess. I have been trying to run at least 5 times a week and each time I make sure I stretch plenty although I never usually go over 8k. Its been tough to wake up at 6:30 each morning because my companion will not wake up unless I shake his bed. Elder Jensen got called to be the new DL here in Tokoroa which should be good because now he has to be more obedient. I don't really have much to say about the work that is going on down here but I do have some pictures from this monday at the Cinema's where we met with the mayor and some other church leaders to screen "Meet the Mormons".

That's all I have for this week, I couldn't get on until just a couple minutes ago because of some computer difficulties.

At the screening of "Meet the Mormons"

"Bowies in Space"

Dear Family and Friends:

Been a pretty good week here in Tokoroa. We went to Mangakino and met a really funny Atheist guy who tried to convince us that "it is silly to believe in God" and that "praying is speaking to someone who isn't there and you can get locked up for that" HAHA!!!!! It was an interesting time we had but it just made me sad to know that people like him exist in the world. The rest of the week went well and I think I am really improving on my teaching skills. I have just read Our Search for Happiness and let me tell you, that is one of my favorite books of all time. I felt the spirit "hard out" (haha New Zealand slang) when I read it and Ballard is definitely a man of God. I am so thankful for all the study resources we have as members of the church because if I was limited to the Bible I would be lost. My testimony is growing day-by-day and I hope that it continues to grow throughout the rest of my time here.

The fashion here in New Zealand is insane. Not that the clothes people wear are really cool but that they make them look like they should be in a mental asylum.

 

Here is a list of things people wear....

-Rugby Shorts ( at all times)

-Safety Vests ( like the ones that constuction workers wear, with no shirt on underneath)

-Woolen Tank Tops ( yup. I need one)

-Puffy Coats ( Its summer over here, and they wear Rugby Shorts on underneath)

-Gum Boots ( basically just rain boots)

-Jandals ( just really budget (budget means really poor quality) sandals)

These are just a few of the things people wear but for the most part they wear styles similar to things you see in America. I'll try and take some pictures of people but I'm not sure how that will go.

We have transfers on Thursday this week and I might be getting transfered or getting a leadership position but I am not sure on either one. The Zone Leaders keep hinting that I am going to be the DL for our District (because our DL got sent home this transfer for..... things.....) but I don't know.

Elders Mitchell

"Demon Woman"

Dear Family and Friends

This has definitely not been a normal week. We had a pretty normal P-day but the next day we decided to go door knocking and at the first door we knocked on we met this guy who looked like he was on drugs and after we started to introduce ourselves he spat out all this Anti-Mormon stuff and I asked him if he has read the Book of Mormon and he claimed to have read it 4-5 times and didn't believe it. After asking about what he thought about the Bible, he said it was compiled by the Illuminati and that it compels people to worship Satan and that members of the church worship him as well. I realized that he wasn't anti- Mormon he was just crazy so I said goodbye and left. Apparently that's not the first time that has happened to Elder Jensen which is not really surprising. We knocked on a couple more doors after that but I was just distracted at what that guy had said so we stopped and went to visit some people.

We went by one of our investigators homes and she had some people over and one of the ladies there started to say some of the same things that the first guy had as well so we bore our testimonies that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and left. She was an interesting lady because she has been attending this church that's just up the road from ours and they believe in speaking in tongues but she thinks its bogus and doesn't believe a lot of the things that they teach and I wanted to ask her why she still attends that church but whatever. We ended up being somewhat productive with the rest of the night but I was a bit confused at why we were having so much trouble and why everyone we were meeting was somewhat negative but I remembered the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 and I took it to mean that because the people were so wicked that they became as the Wayside and didn't give it a chance to grow within themselves. 

On Saturday we had our ward activity and when we first got there we had some rain but it wasn't too bad. We were doing a game called The Amazing Race and my team ended up winning so we decided to play soccer with the few amount of people we had there and because I know how competitive I get, I decided to be goalie. The ground was pretty slick because of the rain fall which made the game pretty hard to play and because my offense was lacking and I was having to block a lot so I took the ball and went on the offense by myself and I ended up crashing into Tara (one of our Recent Converts) because it was so slippery and later I found out that I put her in the hospital and gave her a concussion (not good). We gave her a blessing and I went and bought her chocolate to say sorry but she said it was fine and she wasn't mad but I still feel bad.

The next day was Sunday and Tara brought with her a friend who was not a member and she convinced her to take the lessons from us later that day. The lesson went pretty horribly, I felt fine but some of the things my companion brought up were not really relevant to the Restoration. At the end he asked her to be baptized and that freaked her out and as we were leaving he asked if there was another time we could see her and she said she would think about it. We got a call about 30 minutes later rom Tara saying that she didn't want to take lessons from us and that she might not come back to church (her friend, not Tara). I was sad at first but I decided to not let it bug me but I could tell it bugged Elder Jensen the rest of the day.

That's basically what happened this week and I have been trying to keep strong but its been a pretty tough last couple of weeks. I know that the Lord is with me as long as I stay obedient and have a testimony of the things that I am teaching and other people cannot change that. 

Thanks for all the support you have given me.

Elder Mitchell

"I'm Not Crying, It's Just Been Raining On My Face"

Dear Family and Friends,

Had some Trade-Offs with the AP's and the ZL's (Zone Leaders) and with our WML (Ward Mission Leader) this week so we had a ton of lessons and I have been pushing really hard to get our ward involved with any sort of Missionary work.  We're trying to get them to give us referrals and we have 3 appointments next week with families that have invited a non-member to their house for dinner and maybe have us share a short lil' gospel message. Other then that we haven't had much progress with our current investigators but I don't want to try and grow the ward when we can hardly keep the members we already have.

Not much has been going on here in Tokoroa other than that but It's been pretty quiet for the most part. I really like it here and I am not excited to leave but because I don't want to leave I will probably get shifted next transfer. I'll try and write a bit more detailed email next week but we are using some public computers right now so we have to get off real soon. 

Till Next Week,

Elder Cash Flow.

 

"Frodo, Don't Wear the Ring"

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been a pretty good week here down in Tokoroa and we had our interviews with President Rudd. I have been keeping us pretty busy and this last week we managed to make almost all of our goals that we set for the week. I don't really have much to say about how the area is doing because we haven't really made any progress with any of our investigators because they won't come to church or make any real steps towards quitting smoking but I hope that one day they will make those much needed steps. My interview with President went pretty well and he told me that I am doing better then some of the other missionaries in my transfer which is great to be recognized but I worry about the other missionaries as well. I have been starting over the Book of Mormon with the rest of the Hamilton Mission and in the past couple weeks I am already in Jacob which is great for me and have been reading the New Testament along side it as well. I really look forward to whatever else is in store for me here in New Zealand and I hope that everyone else is doing well.

-Elder Mitchell

Attached are some of the "Nature Reserves" around Tokoroa.

"Albi the Racist Dragon"

Dear Family and Friends

Its been a pretty average week here in Tokoroa, I am starting to get used to this whole mission thing now and my sleep schedule is more-or-less on track with what our mission president wants it to be which is good. The biggest thing that has happened this week is we got our Ward Mission Leader back which was so huge!

I had been fasting that we could make contact with him during the week and just see how he was doing. He has been having some WoW problems and whenever we have stopped by his wife just tells us to go away so in my whole time here I have only met him once and he was...... yeah....... We had a meeting with our Bishop on Friday about some people he wanted us to go see and I decided to go see one of our investigators and I felt prompted to walk through this alleyway. On the other side was Lachoneus' (our WML) house and he had just barely pulled into the driveway so we walked up to his place and we found out that he just messed up his knee. He told us that this was the sign that he needs to come back to church and keep himself clean. He came to church on Sunday and met with us and had a good meeting about what we can do to best serve the lord. He seems to be on board and we gave a guy to go see before Friday so he can stay active.

Other than that its been pretty boring. I'll add a couple pictures on my next email because I forgot my cord at home.

See you guys lates!!!

Elder Cash Flow.

"Rambling Through the Avenues of Time"

Hello Everyone!!!

Transfers Week was this week and I got a new companion!!! His Name is Elder Jensen! Since I have been in the area longer I am taking over and driving but I have only been out here for 6 weeks so I don't really have the best knowledge of the area so it has been pretty stressful but I have been trying to pray and ask for blessings so that I will know what the Lord wants me to do and the strength to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I've been reading the New Testament and studying all of the Gospels and their differences. I love my personal study in the morning and I only wish I could have more than 1 hour but we hardly have enough time in the day to do what we need to do but we get along just fine though.

Elder Jensen is a pretty cool guy but he is somewhat socially awkward and so I have been taking over all the lessons which makes it a bit harder on me but I know he is trying his hardest. I have been trying to plan for the following day as much as possible but it seems like 3/4 of the homes we try and visit are not there but we still manage to stay busy though. I have been trying to include my companion on our planning sessions but he just plays with a yo-yo or rubiks cube and I have to keep him focused but he doesn't have much of an interest in planning. 

I have been noticing some of the blessings that are listed in my Patriarchal Blessing on my mission and it seems like the energy I have for the day is only just enough to get me through to bed time. My exercise is been going pretty well and I have been pushing myself as much as possible to keep myself fit to serve the Lord. I am loving it here in New Zealand and the people here are amazing.

I didn't take really any pictures this week since there is really not much to take pictures off here in Tokoroa but I will try and take some this week.

All is well here in New Zealand!!

Elder Mitchell