This week in Ragland!

I only have 30 minutes of email time because the computers at the chapel aren't working so I won't be able to send much this week. I spent the last 1 hour on hold with the LDS Global Service Center just to have them tell me that I need to call our stake tech. specialist on a number that doesn't even exist...

It sounds like you guys are doing awesome! It is so nice to have people back home asking about me because it feels like most of the emails I receive are ones from other missionaries and automatic ones from Countdown (one of the grocery stores here in New Zealand)  We have been killing it down here this past week and have been making huge progress with some of our investigators. Elder To'angutu and I are getting along really well and I think he is definitely in my top 3 companions on my mission haha ☺. I just realized that of the people that came into the mission at the same time as me, I have had more companions then any of them. They are.... Elder Lukens (Trainer), Elder Jensen for 2 transfers (Follow-up), Elder Otto, Elder Rochefort, Elder Gutierrez, Elder Hunt, Elder Landis and Patea, and Elder To'angutu. That's 9 companions in 7 transfers, but the last 3 happened in this last transfer. Its been nice to be able to meet all sorts of different people and to be able to work along side some of the greatest men I have ever met but it has also taught me that although I don't get to choose my companion I do get to choose my eternal companion and how important that choice is.

This week we went and helped the Gillards (one of our part-member families) put up a fence around their front gate, we got really dirty and I almost put a nail through my boots and got hit by a falling fence post but I have a guardian angel watching out over me so I am fine haha :) Although we don't get to teach much here in Raglan we do a lot of service projects for members and non-members which is really nice because before I got here they didn't really want anything to do with the Elders but now they give us referrals almost every time we go over and they are always dropping off food. I think this might be my favorite area I have served in so far. 

That's all of my time this week but I might be able to email a little bit more at our Branch presidents house tonight!

Later!

Elder Mitchell 

"Why does this phone have a camera glued to it?"

This week we......

Drove up to Auckland to see David Enchilada (Archuleta) and Brad Wilcox for a mission conference! It was actually pretty good and Brother Wilcox gave a really mean talk about the 12 Tribes of Israel and our responsibilities as Ephraim (My Tribe). He also talked about the priesthood and explained some of the parts of Genesis a little bit better that I have had questions about. Bro Enchilada talked about some of his experiences in the mission field and then he sang us some songs which was pretty cool. I tried to get a picture but they all came out too blurry but I did get to shake his hand!

On Saturday we went and helped out one of our part-member families with some farm work so I got to wrestle sheep and hold them while they cut the poop off their fur and put tags in their ears. It was really tiring work but I had a lot of fun and we got to bond with them pretty well so we will probably be going over next week to help them out again. They had the cutest little lamb and I got to feed it while they were making us lunch! 

I also got to give one of our recent converts the Melchizedek Priesthood yesterday which at first really scared me because I have never done it before. He is going to the temple in a couple of weeks for the first time to do endowments and he wants us to come with him! The Branch Members are taking really good care of us here and they just dropped off a fridge full of food which was really nice so we don't have to do shopping and we get fed more often then we did when I was in Hamilton and Raglan is a tiny branch! 

Been a great week and looking forward to whatever is coming next this week! 

Elder Mitchell

David Archuleta visiting the area.

Me holding down a sheep. See...it did happen!

"I'm making a lasagna, for one"

Kio Ora!!!

We had transfers this week and my new Companion is Elder Hunt. He is a big Samoan fella from Aussie, he loves beat boxing, Volleyball, and Rugby. He is finishing his mission next transfer and he is pretty funny sometimes...

We hit it hard this week after transfers and got heaps of work done in Raglan and met a couple of people that Elder Gutierrez and I never got around to see but we did contact heaps of new investigators. It has started to get a lot warmer down here so I have been able to go on more runs but I keep getting distracted during our runs and don't realize that we are way over our 30 mins for exercise but I have been feeling much better than when I wasn't exercising.

Elder Hunt got growled out yesterday by one of our Recent Converts moms. We were over at her house and he kept asking questions about how old her kids were and when there birthdays were and a lot of probing questions and she started to get uncomfortable but I guess he didn't notice. He was taking notes of everything she was saying even though they were not interested in the church and don't really care much about the son who was baptized. Finally she snapped and told him to leave and to leave the paper that he was writing about her family and after apologizing we left. He was sad the rest of the day but later that night he started to cheer up.

We had a pretty good week but not much notable stuff happened except for that one incident but hopefully we have a big week next week!

Elder Mitchell

So busy, he didn't have time to make up a subject line.

Don't have much time today to write a really big email but this week has gone by really quick since it will be my last full week with Elder Guitar Strings (some lady called him that because she couldn't pronounce his name SMH!!!).I will tell a story about our sacrament this past week though. 

One of our investigators named Barry came to church this Sunday. He has had a problem with alcohol and tobacco for many years now and has been in and out of maximum security prison a couple of times but he really likes the church and how nice the people are. When I shook his hand when he came into the chapel I could smell a lot of alcohol on his breath and he didn't look very good at all. I went and sat with Barney after I finished blessing the sacrament and throughout the whole meeting I could hear Barry in the background talking quite loudly to Elder Gutierrez and Mike (a recent convert).

Then one of the ladies who was there for the family history meeting in the 3rd hour went and grabbed Barry and took him outside. Turns out they went up to top of the driveway to have a smoke and on his way out Barry spilled a bunch of his tobacco on the floor of the chapel. Turns out he had just gotten kicked out of his flat because some guy came around and caused a lot of trouble for him and his landlord earlier in the week so he was quite drunk at the time but at least he showed up to church!

Other then that it was a pretty normal week with a lot of driving to the outer edges of our area to see people who live super far away!!!

I'll send pictures of our sight seeing next week.

Elder Mitchell

"My eyes are just a little sweaty today"

This week.......

We had a baptism!!!

We spent most of the week preparing Barney for his baptism but when we weren't with him or Mike (one of our recent converts) we were out inviting people to his baptism. On Wednesday we had the Zone Leaders from down in Hamilton come up and interview Barney for his baptism but he has a small mental disability so they made sure to ask simple questions. Other then a few meal appointments with some of the members we didn't really get to do much service but we did get 2 referrals from some of our members so we will try and contact them later this week. 

After investigating the church for a little under 2 months, Barney made the decision to step into the waters of baptism and make the first of many covenants to our Heavenly Father! Elder Gutierrez had the privilege of performing the ordinance and then on Sunday he asked me to give him the gift of the Holy Ghost so I had to learn how to perform that ordinance in about 2 minutes haha! The spirit was very powerful in the chapel and I got a little chooked up while I giving him a blessing and after he said that when I finished it felt like "someone put a warm blanket on me" and I told him that it was the Holy Ghost. 

Loving the people here in New Zealand!!!!!!!!

Elder Mitchell

#GoTeamIsrael

Barney's Baptism

"Is her middle name Cherie, so It's a Secret Cherie, maybe?"

This week we had exchanges!!!!

On Tuesday after District meeting Elder Landis (he came out with me to New Zealand) took me on an exchange and we headed up to Raglan and taught a few pretty good lessons and talked with heaps of people! The exchange went pretty well and I think we both learned something. When we got back to Hamilton we found out that both of our companions didn't really do much in the way of missionary work because they spent almost the entire time while they were together in the hospital for Elder Prasad's foot and My companions hand!

The Nawton Elders have a pretty rubbish flat so while Elder Gutierrez was staying there he got a mean cold and so we spent most of the week inside trying to get him feeling better but he has been coughing pretty bad since then so we might be going down to the doctors after district meeting this week. Even though we stayed in the flat most of the week we got heaps of work done and finished the lessons that we are supposed to teach before baptism to Barney and we have his baptism scheduled for Saturday at 4:00! 

Last week I hit my 8 month mark which means I am 1/3 of the way done here. I have learned so much and met so many great people over my time here and it makes me sad to see the time fly so quickly. I know that the next 16 months are going to be great even though there will always be challenges! 

I am loving the people here!!!

Elder Mitchell

Attached are some pictures of the beach

"Do you mean the girl ...

....who came up to us when we were running in the park just now and she was looking for her epileptic dog?"

This week...... WE GOT A SET!!!!!

On Saturday we went over to one of our Investigators and taught him the Word of Wisdom and we set him for baptism on the 18th of this month! His name is Barney and we have been working with him quite a bit over the past couple of weeks and he has decided to make that step into the waters of baptism! He has a small problem with coffee and tea but the people he lives with are going to help him out with dropping it which is great to have that kind of support :) 

We had an Unveiling on Saturday at the Marae near Raglan for a guy named Henry Grey. Now some of you may not know what an Unveiling or Marae are so let me explain them too you. 1 year after the funeral of someone of Maori descent (or anyone that belongs to a Marae) they put the headstone on the grave and have a huge kai (feed) to celebrate his life. A Marae is a gathering place for a tribe of Maori people where they have parties and such. The Maori culture here is so fascinating! 

Not much else happened this week for missionary work except we have been knocking on a lot of doors because our appointments keep dropping us but it has given an opportunity to go and try and find people. It is a branch here in Raglan so not many people attend church in fact we had 20 people yesterday which is pretty good for this area. We might be going and hiking a mountain later today if the weather stays good!!!!

All is good here in Raglan!

Elder Mitchell 

Attached are some pictures of Bridal Veil Falls (Yes the same name as the one in Utah) and one of our district