I feel so blessed to be working with these people. Its so easy to love them out here.

KIA ORA EVERYONE,

I cant believe its P Day again…the week just got away from me.. WHICH IS AWESOME!!

As a missionary in New Zealand I feel so blessed to be working with these people. Its so easy to love them out here, because they show the same love right back. Their hearts are as big as the portions of food they give us.. WHICH IS HUGE.

So on the topic of portions and food, I got to try some really tasty stuff this week. Kumra... its seriously the biggest thing. Just take a sweet potato, make it the size of your face and about as dense as steal.. soak it coconut cream, and throw some Corn beef hash on it... THAT IS WHAT THEY CALL A SIDE DISH!!! UHH HECK NO. But man it is so goooood. This place is seriously magic too… it seems that the instant my plate is empty and I’m about to pop, my plate magically gets refilled! yayyyy.... But in all seriousness its a huge blessing to have big meals like that. They members are so giving! Then I got to try some duck feet and Pig ear. Doesn't that just sound yummy as? It actually was delicious.. so no complaints there!

ONTO THE WORK!

This week was so hard! But when God humbles us (which he has to do to me a lot)  He pours out His blessings.

So on P Day last week we thought it would be a great idea, as a district and with the Zone Leaders, to go to the BMX track near the chapel. MAN it was so much fun! Until I was racing Elder Morris (our Zone Leader) and saw a jump that would get me a head of him. I thought there was going to be a table on top of it. (Shannon here: a flat area, not an actual table.)

So I put my front wheel down... ( I think we know what’s going to happen) there was no table.. and physics gets the best of me. I literally ate dirt.. (my mouth was open from screaming). Broke my tooth.. not so bad. MY bike.. and helmet. In all honesty, God was looking out for me because I got up, laughed, and then raced again. So fun!

Then DUN DUN DUN,DUN. we have to be humbled. So I went on exchanges on Friday feeling fairly confident about where to go, how to get there, who to see, what say.. I did the 1st. 3rd. and 4th thing well.... But how to get there.. nope.. I couldn't even find my way around... with a map. I was so lost, and the person I was with was a ray of sunshine about it... not... he was getting upset.. but I found my way to one house! Totally awesome! Great lesson I thought (the ray of sunshine just had so much to say) but next time will be better!

Then on Saturday.

Saturday was already a slow and hard day. One of our keen as investigators was having second thoughts, thankfully during the lesson we taught, the Spirit was so strong and he only moved his baptismal date back a couple weeks. PHEW! But then Elder Harmon and I got a referral to see a guy named P. We were told he wanted to learn, so we set out to teach him. We got there. He was a Rev. from a Baptist church in Alabama who just wanted to bash. My first bible bash! We literally bashed for an hour. I hated every minute. (Shannon here: Bible bashing is not “bashing” the validity of the Bible. Nor is it even a healthy debate on the subject of religion. Rather, it is typically just a contentious argument or confrontation about different tenets of religion. See here for a much better explanation.) But he was attacking the Gospel, and my pride wasn't having that... no way. But I left feeling so spiritually drained. But I bore my testimony to him. Man the Spirit was strong, but we could tell he was just there to bash. And it was a struggle to not think about what more could I have done, because at points he was slapping MY testimony in the face. And I was having a hard time with it. So, I knelt in prayer for comfort. A copy of the Book Of Mormon fell in front of me. It was a copy my awesome older brother Elder Sam Gish gave me, and in it a verse he wrote always resonated with me,  “whenever you get sad, pull this book out" and as I just held it close. I felt so empowered. I knew God and Jesus Christ knew what I had gone through and knew exactly what I needed to help me. 

THEN GOD POURED HIS BLESSINGS ON US!

An investigator we have been struggling with to get to come to church CAME ON SUNDAY!! HOLY FLIPPING HAPPY! It was seriously the best felling to see her there! And she loved every minute! Again, Heavenly Father knows us and picks us up!

So a quote I loved from this week "Of all the names our God and Deity has asked us to address him by out of respect, he asks us to address him as FATHER." And, man it was so powerful knowing that.

This work is true. As missionaries we get this amazing privilege to serve our Father in Heaven. I got so lucky to be in New Zealand. Its humbling to have the Holy Ghost as a Companion at all times, and as we listen with our spiritual ears to Him, we can accomplish amazing things. But we only get that by  “obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel" (Article Of Faith 3.)

I love this work. I know the Book of Mormon is the Word of God and Jesus Christ. It was translated by a true Prophet, Joseph Smith. Read and pray over this truth. You will receive an answer of truth from the Holy Ghost

KIA KAHA!

love you all!

your kiwi!

Elder Gish