"Autobiographical Raps (Things that happened to us)"

Hey everybody!!!!!

This week we saved some souls!!!! I was still struggling with my ankle over the beginning of the week but at around Wednesday I eventually started to do better but we had already wasted a good couple of days that we could have used actually working. It was kind of crappy because we didn't get our car back and probably won't for another couple of days but the doctor also told me that I should try and avoid walking long distances because it can just make my foot worse. We tried to schedule all of our appointments near our flat but ended up calling the Zone Leaders whenever we needed a ride some place else but I can tell it is getting kind of annoying for them so we have tried to find other people to give us rides when we have to go across town.

Other than that we had a lot of success with just the few people we were able to visit. We saw Keeda and Madi (two of our 'investigators' whose mother is a Less-active) and had dinner with them and afterwards we taught them the 10 commandments which they then taught to their mother. They are such funny girls and are a lot smarter than you would think they are but they are partially deaf so have struggles with when we say things we have to be really clear with what we say and how we say certain things. It brings up some challenges in teaching but has helped Elder Fesolai and I grow our teaching skills. We tried to re-set them but they said they need to decide where they are getting baptized before they re-commit to a date. 

We also saw Berry but his partner, Lucky was not home. We are hoping that she is still interested but Berry is always super keen on learning and is really accepting with the commitments that we leave with them. 

I got a call on Friday night telling me that I am the new District Leader over the Gisborne area which was very surprising to me because I knew that one of the other Elders was the DL. It turns out that they did something stupid which got them in trouble and since our district is pretty big, they couldn't just let the Zone Leaders do it. President Rudd called me and talked with me about what had happened and that I need to be super vigilant with disobedience and that if I see anything wrong that I should call him and the Zone Leaders immediately.

I was not super excited about this call because of all the stress that has come when I have been District Leader before but after spending most of the night praying for help and guidance I felt a sense of peace come over me that made me know that although it would be difficult, it could be done and that I would receive help with my duties. I know that Heavenly Father answers prayers and that he truly does love his children and want to help lift their burdens.

I hope you guys have a nice and cool week because it going to be hot here in Gisborne!!!

Elder Mitchell

"Be more constructive with your feedback."

This week we had transfers!

Monday and Tuesday were alright but we didn't get a whole lot done. We found out about transfer news on Tuesday and that Elder Christensen is going to Taumarunui and that Elder Fesolai from Apia, Samoa will be replacing him here in Gisborne. I have had a few Samoan companions so far on my mission and I will just say that this will be an interesting transfer. Later, Elder Christensen and I went around and said all of his goodbyes which was really hard for him because leaving your first area is always difficult and we had a few people that he got really close to but he managed to get through it all. I am definitely going to miss Elder Christensen, he is one of the best missionaries that I have ever served with and hopefully I get the chance to serve around him again before I leave. 

While we were playing basketball Wednesday morning, I landed on one of the other Elders foot which made my ankle go all funny and sprained it pretty bad. I thought that it would be alright after resting and icing it for a while but it still wasn't getting any better. We went to do service and while Elder Fellingham and Elder Christensen were working I was sitting off to the side resting my ankle. We did service for this South African Lady and while I was sitting around, I taught her about the Restoration. She confided in me some stuff about her past and how she has done some pretty bad things but I testified to here that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, she can be made clean from those past mistakes. I am so thankful to be able to teach people like her about repentance and how our Older Brother has already paid for those mistakes.

Elder Fesolai came in on Thursday and we got directly into........ sitting down and icing my ankle. I went to the doctors on Wednesday and they told me I need to stay off it for at least 48-72 hours and that I need to make sure to be doing the whole R.I.C.E. ( Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate) and all of that jazz. We didn't get hardly any work done the next couple days.

Saturday was mean!!!!! We went and saw Cathy and had an awesome lesson with her. We shared with her C.P.R. (church, prayer, reading) and how important Sabbath Day Worship is in keeping God's commandments. She has had a problem keeping the Sabbath Day but said at the end of it that during this next week she will try and schedule things so that they don't conflict with church or do things on Sunday that she shouldn't do. We also saw Berry and Lucky and taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a focus on Repentance and Baptism. They are not married but are living in the same house so that will definitley need to change before getting wet but I have Faith in them that they will be able to make those commitments to one another and to God. 

Then.... Berry and Lucky came to church on Sunday!!!!! After a pretty awkward arrival they had a good time in sacrament meeting and after the people were so nice to them that they decided to stay for the full 3 hour block! In Gospel Principles, Berry got and bore his testimony and he made most of the people in the room cry including himself and our Bishop. He is such a humble guy and has such strong faith. 

This week has gone much better than last week and hopefully we are able to make some progress with our teaching pool over these next couple of weeks. I want to have a baptism here before I leave!!!

Elder Mitchell 

Flip.... I forgot my cord. I promise I will send pics next week!!!!

"Did Steve tell you that by chance. Steve."

This was a pretty disappointing week.

We spent all of last week setting up appointments and making arrangements so that we could have an awesome week before transfers but for some reason everyone just decided to either cancel out on us, dodge us, or drop us. When we hit about Thursday, Elder Christensen (the elder I am training) was moments away from tears because some of the people that we had been working really heavily with just said that they didn't want us to come back, some of which we had set for baptism. Elder C was about to throw in the towel when it got to Saturday because of some people that were giving us a hard time and one of them chased us with a baseball bat across town. I had to give him a blessing so that he wouldn't just give in and go home because of some of the challenges that have come up. I hope that this next week is better for us because he is really struggling to deal with some of these things.

It seems that while I become a better and better missionary, new and difficult challenges keep getting in the way. I was reading in the First Book of Nephi chapter 16 lately about how Nephi dealt with problems when they arose. Instead of murmuring about how his bow broke, he went out and solved the problem and made a new bow. I have felt a lot like Laman and Lemuel over the past couple of days as they come out with all these new rules and with all of the challenges we have been facing but I realize that all that I am doing is making myself bitter and getting no work done in return. 

I know that Faith is a principle of action and all I need to do is to go out and work and solve the problems instead of complaining about them. 

This email may be kind of short but it has taken me quite a while to realize how stupid I sounded while complaining about some of the new rules. I have definitely been able to see that the problem was not with the rules or with other people but with me. I know that this probably doesn't make sense to a lot of you but I hope you all have a good week!!!!

Kia Kaha!!

Elder Mitchell

Happy New Year & Contacts & Stuff

Our flat is on 220 Wainui Road. If you look on Google Maps at our flat you can only see part of it because it is behind other houses but if you move over a little bit you can see more of it. We live close by the Ghetto of Gisborne so you will probably see some pretty run down houses on some of the side streets but we live on the main road. Gisborne is a beautiful place and there is a lot of really cool things to do around but I mainly just like the beach which is really close by to our flat.

We had a small party at our Zone Leaders flat on New Years to celebrate one of the other missionaries birthdays as well as the New Year. We had a really slow week just trying to get everything back to normal but even with all the interruptions we were able to get the best numbers in the Zone. This mission has taught me so much about hard work when it seems like no one is watching even though some times it may not feel like you are being held accountable. The past 2 transfers have definitely given me a new taste of missionary work and shown me what I need to do to become the best missionary I can be. I have been missing you guys like crazy the past couple weeks but I will be home before you know it! 

Thanks for the package for Christmas! It provided some much need help as I have been wearing out my socks like mad over the past couple of weeks. One of the Elders in Gisborne right now will be going home next transfer so I am going to send him home with a package for you guys. I'm not going to send a mass email to everyone this week so just send my love out to everyone and that emotional stuff!

Elder Mitchell!

"waiting for a call from my family...they forgot about me"

Won't be a long email because I will be skyping home but.....

This week was awesome!!!

We killed it for the first 1/2 of the week but after that we sort of got stuffed by a lot of people dropping appointments but were still able to be somewhat productive with the rest of our time. The Traveling Assistants came down on Wednesday and we had a really good couple of hours with them. Elder Wark (from Scotland) came with me and we were able to be a part of a couple of miracle moments.

1. One of our investigators finally answered the door with pants on. (He never wore pants)

2. We decided to go see one of our members and he was about to call us to ask for a blessing but we showed up at his house anyway.

3. Elder Wark got beat up by one of our semi-active members and then he showed us some Karate moves.

And that was only in like 2 hours of actual proselyting!

Elder Christensen and I have been doing some pretty good work down here and have been getting along really well! He is such a good missionary and I feel like I am being trained by him but yet he has only been out like 9 weeks! It has definitely been a humbling experience for me!

That'll be all for this week but I will talk to you guys later on Christmas!!

Elder Mitchell!

#KiaKaha #MakeTheMiracles

"Get your hand off my tail, you'll make it dirty"

This week.... WE GOT ANOTHER SET!!!

So after a pretty slow beginning of the week with Elder Christensen being sick on Wednesday and basically all of our appointments fell through on Tuesday, we had Zone Meeting with the Assistants. They gave a training on how to use the baptism tracker and how to best extend the invitation to be baptized which we then used to set one of our brand new investigators for the 16th of January on the first lesson. He accepted all the commitments but we think there still might be some concerns because he cannot read very well but hopefully that doesn't turn out to be a huge problem. 

We have been trying to work as hard as possible but since Elder Christensen is being trained and didn't really get to know the area very well when he was with his last companion because he did everything for him. I have been trying to help out as much as possible and am starting to learn the area fairly quickly which I have had to do in my past 4 areas because all my companions have left after 1 transfer. It is pretty interesting to be a follow-up trainer now because I have to try and break him out of all the bad habits his trainer got him into and help him relax a little bit because he is super stressed out. He reminds me a lot of how I was when I started my mission but it is also nice because I know how to remedy it.

Other then a few new investigators we have found throughout the week it was a pretty normal last couple of days. We had a Christmas Fireside at our chapel but I forgot my camera so I won't send any pictures till next week. I am definitely loving it here in Te Hapara Ward!!!!!

Elder Mitchell

Ps. If any of yous see my older brother Nik, tell him happy birthday! 

"You think that might be what you fancy?"

This week has been crazy!!!!

So we found out last Monday that I was being transfered from Te Aroha to Gisborne in the Te Hapara Ward. I thought my work was done in that area but I was mistaken. After almost losing one Katrina to a hard core Open Brethren Bible-Basher, we went and had a Family Home Evening with Katrina and that guy decided that he should come along. He spent the whole time trying to find something he could disagree on but Bro Whitehead (one of our awesome members) kept on shutting him down. 

While we were at the FHE, some guy came in and sat down as we were giving the lesson and after about 30 minutes he got up and left but told Bro Whitehead as he left that he would like to start meeting with the missionaries. We set up an appointment with him for the next day and after teaching him the Restoration, we set him for baptism. There was a couple problems though, {1} He used to be the President of the Black Power {2} He is on the Rolex (what they call it when you are on probation) so we had to set him for the 30th of January which is when he gets off and {3} He isn't married to his partner but they only sometimes live in the same house (he has multiple houses across the country). He is a really nice guy who honestly wants to change his life but has been in a bad situation for so long, it will be pretty tough to get out. 

Even though I have left Te Aroha I know that it is being left in good hands and hopefully they can continue on progressing our investigators in that part of the Lord's Vineyard. I am so thankful for the opportunity I have had to serve the people there and I hope that the people there feel the same about me! 

Gisborne has been a very interesting time haha!!! I am now serving with Elder Christensen and the last couple of days have been a blast! I really enjoy serving in cities because of how close you are to everyone else so we get to see other missionaries all the time and we actually have stuff to do on P-day! I am follow-up training Elder C. and since he is my first step-son, I hope that I haven't ruined him too bad already but there are some bad habits that his previous companion got him doing that are not the best for successful missionary work. Hopefully my experience can help him to progress his skills as a missionary! 

I am definitely going to have a good transfer!!!!

Elder Mitchell

 Attached are photo's of the Volunteers for the Riding for the Disabled in Te Aroha and of Uncle Tony McLaren and I "fighting"