Search Within Yourselves to Draw Closer to the Savior This Year

KIA ORA WHANAU!!!! Tena koe E hoa,

 So, before I even get into my weekly letter, it is a very special birthday today! 

TODAY IS MY MOM'S BIRTHDAY!! She is turning 32!! AGAIN!!! WOW!! She is SERIOUSLY THE BEST! 

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother"- Abraham Lincoln.

I am so grateful for my Mom and all that she has done for me. From late nights helping me with projects, I should have finished earlier too. "Hey Mom, I found Waldo" Hahah (only she will get that). I Believe in Angels because my Mom is one. I don't know what kind of person I would be without her in my life. She has taught me everything. Everything I am is because of my Mom. I hope that one day I can pay her back for what she has done for me. I love her so much and I have no shame in saying that to the world! I have the best Mom Ever! And she made a pretty good choice with my Dad. I love you mom!! You are seriously the best!!! Happy Birthday!

It was quite a week! From Christmas to Mission Conferences, now I don't have heaps of time, but with the Christmas season just past, and a New Year around the corner, we have a unique opportunity to make changes in our lives, set new goals and really search within yourself as to what you can do to draw closer to the Savior. 

Doctrine and Covenants 88:63

"Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

I know that with the a New Year  ahead we can draw closer to our Savior, and as we do so, He will come into our lives.and will be able to show us the way, because He has already walked it. 

Love you all!

-Elder Gish

District Meeting: What is your Gospel Application to find the M&M is a bowl of flour. 

Service Project 

Christmas Caroling.

Ward member who made paper glasses for us to use in Primary.

Get Out of the Way and Let the Lord Work Through Us.

Kia ora whanau!! Tena Koe e hoa!

Well HELLO EVERYONE! Hope you all have a had a wonderful week. It was another beautiful week here in Aotearoa! 


So of course we wanted to enjoy the sun during our summer season! But sometimes as a missionary, we can't. BUT GUESS WHAT?! WE GOT TO!!! There is a member that works on and owns a farm. He also works for another farmer, who really needed some help. So literally most of our week was farming. And what an amazing miracle it was. We felt kind of bad that we spent so much time farming and not so much out knocking on doors, But CHECK THIS OUT!!! While we were milking cows on the farm the member works at... the boss came over.... AND INVITED US TO HIS HOUSE FOR DINNER!!! He wanted to know why we would willingly and with no cost help him. We hadn't even met him or talked to him! "Preach the Gospel at all times, and if you have to, use words" The service we gave was enough for him to want to know why! 

Then we had ring some pigs!   Like put a ring in their noses. The reason why is because, believe it or not pigs dig WITH THEIR NOSES!!! Imagine that ? Aye? That's a new form of putting your nose in something. SO to prevent that, we pierced their noses with the ring, cause it hurts their noses when they dig! So much fun! What made that even more fun was we had to catch the pig. 

We first started off by leading the pigs to go to the trough to eat, then grabbing their hind legs and then holding them down...but thats no fun. The Members who works there (and owns his own farm too) brought in in-active brother. (Shannon here: "In-active means someone who is a baptized member of the church, but isn't active in church activities.) And we all know what happens when brothers get together... Competition time! 

So we said "forget the tricks, let just tackle them"! OH YEAH THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA... lets try and tackle 60kg pigs while they are running. And we learned something that day. Pigs. Are. Fast! and they can juke. So many time as we were running after the pigs, they would step us! ( meaning juke) and because of that we would slip and fall right into a fresh patch of pig "mud" ... you know what I am talking about... Wilber,  you are not so sweet. But at the end of it all we were able to have a good time! Plus got to share a little something with the brother! So all in all it was great. 

All in all I really grew to appreciate the work... I also learned why Adam lived so long, because " by the sweat of his brow he made his daily bread" he was a farmer... and man .. do you need to be in shape to do it! 

OKAY ENOUGH ABOUT FARMING

To wrap this up, Sunday was a great day! We are currently staring up a group in a place called Pangakawa. And on Sunday the group President, Brother O., called and asked if we could speak. Of course we love to.. but we would be the only ones to speak.. and my companion.. that sly dog.. only spoke FOR 10 MINUTES... I had my talk all ready for maybe a 20 minute talk.. not 40. So of course I'm like "flip 40 minutes". But so many times the Lord has been my voice, during times like these. but for some reason I always doubt.. But as I got up..my original plan was talk on Obedience.. but the spirit took a different route.. on missionary work. So I'm up there.. no notes.. just a humble spirit.. And I end up talking for 45 minutes.. without a single pause. Just words kept coming and coming. And at the End. I knew that the Lord had been my voice. Sometimes, we need to get out of the way and let the Lord work through us. He can't get through to others if we are blocking him with our doubts. 

I know that is true!

Well I love you all! 

-Elder Gish

December 6, 2015

Kia ora Whanau! Tena Koe e Hoa!

ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING! I got transferred back to TAURANGA!!!! South Auckland was so awesome, and I will miss everyone there dearly. But it is so awesome to be back here in Tauranga! I love this place. The area is so flipping awesome! I Love it so much, the welcome into the ward was probably one of the warmest I have received. I am with an awesome Elder named Elder N. He is a Samoan Aussie,and the flipping man. 

So we are serving in a Ward, but we are also serving in a Group! Its like the pre-stages of a Branch! So we do heaps of service out there. IN FACT! On Thursday we were helping out a member who owns a farm, and we milked 400+ cows! It was so much fun! But at the same nasty.. While I was under a cow milking her, she decided to give me a present.. then everything went black..but i guess that's nothing out of the ordinary! I still loved it! But as of right now we are just trying to build the area up. 

But I wanted to share something I read in my personal studies. 

Revelation 3:3 " I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour i will come upon thee".

In my last area we had a member experience a terrible break in from a thief, it could have been a lot worse, but he was prepared! So it is the same when Christ comes. We need to make sure we have a plan in line when he comes. We know it will be soon. ' Proper preparation prevents poor performance'. I have been thinking alot about this scripture and how I personally dont wan't to be unprepared when Christ comes. The only reason that member in my last area prevented a catastrophic event was because he was prepared. A thief is only harmful if we dont know that he is there, but if we do all we can to make sure we are prepared for such an event, no harm will come. 

I know that being prepared for Christ's coming is so important because he will be here sooner then we think! 

I love you all!

Thanks for reading!

-Elder Gish

Willing to Sacrifice Who We Are, For Who We Can Become

Kia Ora Whanau! Tena Koe e hoa! 

What a great week. 

So my companion has been sick in bed since Thursday:( So that is where my week has been spent. 

But of course awesome miracles happen! 

In particular on Sunday. Sunday was such an awesome day. 20 minutes before Church starts, we get a phone call. It was our bishop. Some people had dropped out of giving talks and needed to fill in the space. He called and asked if I could fill in the time. But what was amazing was he said "I called because I need you". What powerful words. We have been working like crazy to build up the trust of these members and it is working!  I loved the topic I was given, "Sacrifice". So I have a question I want to ask everybody (and i asked this during my talk). "Are we willing to sacrifice who we are, for who we will become?" The Gospel has been, and always will be about progression. But sometimes we become comfortable. We stop growing. We stop working on ourselves. We aren't Continually " coming to Christ and being perfected in Him". There are things in our lives that hold us back from becoming better. There are things that we need to sacrifice to reach our goals, at home, work, callings, whatever it may be, they hold us back. Can we sacrifice those things to become better? Sacrifice is a refiner. Its not easy, but we know at the end of the day it will be for our benefit.  That was a the basis of my talk!

ON TO THE NEXT SUBJECT. 

So on Sunday I woke up and was thinking about an investigator of ours named A. who had moved away. So I prayed and asked if he could come to church, which he usually doesn't if we dont invite him. As I was sitting working on my talk in the chapel, guess who rolls in? A. I knew that the Lord had answered my prayers. Not because it was for my benefit, but because it was for A's. I know the Lord answers our prayer...

...Which leads me to an awesome quote my Brother Sam told me. Now I don't know if you know this, but my brother Sam...he's Batman...don't tell anyone though. 

But he said this "Man I'll tell you what, there is nothing like being able to drop to your knees and with all the sincerity of heart plead with Heavenly Father to help you and those you love. For you that may be your investigators. There is nothing like opening your scriptures in the morning and reading with the intent of actually learning for a specific purpose so that you can be blessed and bless the lives of the people you love so dearly. It happened to me on my mission and it's happening to me now. Chase make sure you develop the testimony of the power of prayer and the words of God. It will bless you and all those around you for the rest of your life. I can promise you that"

I know that what he said is so true! That as we come to know our Heavenly Father more, we ask Him to bless others, rather then ourselves. It's never about me, its about them. It's not about we, when its about Him. My Brother has showed me that time and time again. THANKS MY BRO! GO AND KILL 'EM YOU SKUX! 

Love you all! thanks for reading!

-Elder Gish

Shannon here: Not sure how this happened, but Elder Gish's last weekly update did not make it on the blog. (I have a complete memory that I posted it. #menopausemoment.) I am posting it below.

KIA ORA WHANAU!!!! 

SO GUESS WHAT !! ITS MY DAD BIRTHDAY!!!! Now I know this is a shocker but my dad is a time wizard.. He is turning 35 AGAIN!! WOW!!! amazing, stupendous! Here are some facts that you may have not known about my dad. 

1. Alexander bell invented the telephone.. he had 3 missed calls from my dad

2. Bigfoot.. believes in my dad

3. My dad is the reason why waldo is hiding

4. My dad can cut through a hot knife with butter

5.He can also slam a revolving door

6 Lastly.. he can win a game of connect four in only 3 moves

Love you dad hope you have a happy birthday!

It was a great week. Long, but great!

I received a package this week from my Mom ( because she is awesome!) She put in some pumpkin spice cookies.. because she is awesome. Now Something happened that I cant explain. I was baking these cookies.. and it says cook for 11-13 minutes. Now the metric system here does not change time. So I cook them for 12 minutes. ( to be safe). Buzzer goes off. and the cookies are still soft! Not cooked yet. So i say " oh maybe just a minute or so then they will be done" a minute goes by and THEY ARE TOTALLY BURNT! I do not understand how this happened.. But burnt cookies taste really good when you destroy the taste with some frosting!

The work this week was interesting. our investigator, A. moved unexpectedly this week and we dont know where he went. 

So this week we really focused on finding new people to teach. So all week we have been knocking on doors. On Friday where weren't having any success! So we decided to go back to the area where we lived, and we see a guy working on his car! So of course...me...cars...life. So we go over and start talking to him about his car and stuff, and we were very casual about our conversation, and it turns out he has been looking for a church to go to because he doesn't think the one he goes to at the moment is right. So we will be seeing him this week.

I learned something interesting, that the gospel needs to just be something we are able to bring up casually. If it is truly ingrained in our life, then it is as much a part of us as sports or whatever is. It's easy to talk about sports casually, but the Gospel...we seem awkward at times...and if you're feeling like your being awkward...then they will think the same thing!! DON'T BE AWKWARD!

I just want to finish with a quote. "If you ever feel like your just a number, remember you are number one!" 

Love you all

-Elder Gish

Ps. this pic is for my dad!

The Spirit at Church

Kia ora whanau!!! 

Im so sorry that this will be short, but thank you for all the birthday wishes. Seriously everyone it meant a lot more then you think you know. It was great seeing all theses emails. During the week two bros of mine had a birthday Ty Mcdouglad, and Cameron Jarrett. Happy Birhday my bros!

It's been a great week though. Sunday was the greatest day. Miracles happened on that day. So we have had a hard time getting people to church. So this we week we really focused on that. On Sunday A. comes to our place at 9:00 pm...and walks up and says, "Guy we need to talk," which for all of us that have been in relationships know the words "we need to talk" are like hearing "I'm done." BUT NO!! HE TELLS US ABOUT HOW HE KNOWS WHAT WE ARE TEACHING IS TRUE!! AND THAT HE IS REALLY THINKING ABOUT BECOMING A MEMBER!! WHATTTTT!!!!!!! He has made such amazing leaps of faith to get where he is. He walks into church with just light in his eyes.

But then Sunday gets better.

We have an investigator named K., and she has been pretty keen and told us that she would come to church.. Well she didn't...HER ENTIRE FAMILY CAME! Husband and 5 kids!!!!! 7 people!!! After church she comes up to us and says "Elders this is us from now on we are staying here."  MAN what a great blessing!! 

I am so grateful for the spirit at church. I know that it is the Lord's house...and to those who are seeking for God, can, and will, find Him there. 

I love you all! 

Elder Gish

A Very Special Person Turns 13

Kia ora whanau!!! 

Okay so i totally slacked and didn't get this started soon enough! 

FIRST OFF a very special person in my life turns 13!! WHAT THE HECK!?!? Happy birthday Gage!! I love you little bro! Thanks for letting me be your older bro ( i cant say bigger bro much longer with you getting so tall, so iI might as well start saying older bro now.) Hope you have a great day off from school * cough mom* cough dad*

So quite a bit has happened this week. LET ME START WITH AN EXCHANGE!. This week we went on Exhanges with the APs which is always fun because they are such hard workers. Elder M. and I were doing our thing when I received a prompting to go to the house of an investigator named M. So we go. Sometimes these promptings work out and sometimes they don't. THIS ONE DID! SHE WAS HOME! So we taught her the Restoration again for some reason...I dont think I have ever had such a unified lesson such as that one. Elder Matthews and I have the same teaching style! At the end of the lesson, we invite her to be baptized! November 28th was the date we had discussed...but thanks to inspiration...or a really bad memory we set her for the 14th...AND SHE ACCEPTED!!! She is preparing herself to be baptized! I know that was the working of the Lord.

Fast forward to Friday We have a new investigator named K. She was found street contacting and said we could come back on Friday (two days later). Now normally when that happens, something happens and things fall through, but when we stopped by she had been waiting!!! She thought we were going to come by at 12, but we said 1! We go in and she has read everything. She told us that she knew that this was the place were she needed to be. That God lead her to us on that day. As we taught, the Spirit did all the work because all we did was ask questions.. And she wants her entire family to join!! 

Now let's fast forward to Sunday! We have been really struggling to get people to church. We invite, but they don't ever come because the chapel is ' too far' . BUT WOULDNT YOU KNOW IT IN WALKS A!! All dressed up. HE CAME TO CHURCH! As we went through church he kept telling us.. " I really like how it feels here, I feel like i belong here". I know that that was the Holy Ghost speaking to his heart!  

NOW! of course I have to have some humor somewhere in here!  It was super crack up! It was Halloween on Sat. and so we decided to do some door knocking. We were getting no success so we decided to have some fun! WE went up to a door that we saw gave out lollies. When they answered the door, we were like "TRICK OR TREAT!!" and they thought we were in costumes! They were like "Oh wow what are you guys?" 

We said: "We are missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!' 

Them: "wow that is such a good costume!' 

Us:" No, we really are missionaries from the church.....' 

AND THEY LET US TEACH THEM!

Well hope you all have a great week!

-Elder Gish

"Find the Mormons. They have the Truth." (Oct 18th and 25th)

October 18

Kia ora whanua! Tena koe e hoa!


Monday again.. i think its funny most people when Monday comes around are like.. " Trauf.. its monday" But as a missionary its like ' WOOO ITS MONDAY!!!!!" 

This has been a pretty Crazy awesome week! We had a lot of really cool stuff go on! 

We an awesome miracle happen with our set K. Her mom loves having us over because we share uplifting things.. but she never really sits in and listens to us.. but the other day we gave K. some scriptures to read before we come over next. The mom decided to read with her! and so when we came over she was telling us how she really wants to learn more about what her daughter is learning, and to start from the top!!! AWESOME!!! 

THEN we have an investigator A. who IS THE MAN. While at his house his Partner A. was there ( who is an AOG which is kinda like a odd Catholic/ baptist mix) as we were sharing the Restoration she was asking HEAPS of questions. and amazingly.. we were able to answer everything without getting to side tracked. But at the end she told us " that was so simple and it makes perfect sense! When can i learn more"!!! JAW DROP.. it was a real testifier to me that when the Gospel is taught simply but clearly, that leaves more room to have the Spirit work on them. The Gospel is not confusing.. but we make it confusing for some reason. 

Im so grateful for this time i have had to share this Gospel. I know that as we apply the things we know to our lives we are more able to serve the Lord with our full heart!! love you all!

a kite ano!

-Elder Gish

October 25

OKAY OKAY OKAY!!!! Here we go with another weekly update! 

Man there is heaps I have to write about.. But it was quite a crazy week.. like heaps has happened this week. We had this awesome lesson with an Investigator named Mania. She is a young mother who would like to get her Children Baptized. We went over and taught her the Restoration. And as we got to the part about how the Priesthood had been restored today.. She just says! " THIS IS WHAT IM LOOKING FOR! I knew that we need authority to be baptized"! So we invited her to be baptized and she accepted!!! She is praying about a date of when she gets baptized!! AND THERE IS MORE!!! We went to see our awesome Investigator A. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation... It was such an awesome lesson! WE invited him to baptized as well! AND HE ACCEPTED!! He is set for the 21 of November! The Lord is really blessing us in this area. We are really trying as hard as we can to get the work moving.

Later on in the week something amazing happened. We had received a referral to go see someone, so we go by. No one was home, so we think to ourselves.. " well we are here for a reason so lets find out why.. so what do we do.. we start knocking on some doors. We came up to this house and this old lady answered.. She just looks at us and. and starts to tear up.. ... So we ask if she is okay. She invited us in and told us her Husband had passed away a month ago. and was looking for support.. Her mother who had died years ago said, before she died "Find the Mormons...they have the truth." C. ( the old women whose husband passed away) said she wanted missionaries to come by and teach her about where her husband was.. but didn't know how to find us. I know that the Lord guides us in all that we do as missionaries and when we ask " what are we doing here", when we are lost.. he will guide us to the reason. 

The Next day I was asked to teach seminary. I wont stay to much on that. but i am always remninded of my Seminary teacher Sis. Hansen. and how much she sacrificed to teach us a 40- 45 minute lesson at 6 am in the morning. but luckily these youth i taught where so cooperative! 

THE LAST THING THAT HAPPENED this week was on Sunday.. So i got sick Sunday. 10 minutes before church started our bishop franticly came up to me and said that 2 of our speakers dropped and they needed to fill a 30 minute gap.. now i didnt receive the gift my dad has to be able to talk for ages ahahah ( love you dad) But i accepted the call. Having no idea what to talk about.. i felt that i should talk about obedience.. and wouldnt you know it.. the person before was talking about that as well.. The Spirit truly guides us if we are willing to listen.. and yes i did take up the 30 minutes.. and actually went 10 minutes over! So hopefully I bored bishop to never do that to me again.. 

Later on in the day our Primary president and EQ president asked my companion and I if we could take a class.. knowing that there was another set of missionaries. They still asked us. So it was quite hectic trying to get both classes done.. but we did it!! and it was an amazing experience! I am so grateful for the direction of the Spirit in my life! 

Love you all!! thanks for reading! 

Ka kite ano!

-Elder Gish

Soggy Oreos, Joyful Enduring and Prayers Answered During General Conference

Kia ora my whanau!! Tena koe e hoa! 

What a great week it has been. There is so much I could write but i dont want to bore you too much. 

So i was thinking recently about an event in my life that really makes me smile. As most of you know i have the coolest parents in the world! Who, since they are so awesome, they brought forth two awesome extremely handsome brothers of mine. Before we lived out east, we lived in Denver. (Which for those of my New Zealand friends who are reading this, that's about the same distance as Gisborne is from Sydney) We were heading to the Eastern states to see my Superhero Grandfather. On the way there, we decided to get some snacks. My younger brother Gage, like the man he is, makes a great choice and buys Oreos. While we were driving, we were loaded into a car that makes a mini cooper look big, and went no faster then half the speed of smell. And that was an experience I would not like to relive hahaha.

While on this road my older Brother Samantha, oh I mean Sam...wanted an Oreo from Gage. So Gage, only being around 5 at this time, shares an oreo with Sam. Keep in mind we are suffering in car so small and we are a little over tired. 

Gage gives Sam the oreo and Sam partook. Right as he ate it he says " Wow that tasted soggy" Gage with his great young mind says "Oh thats because I licked it"  HAHAHAHAHA!  He just stepped into the battle field of brothers who live on pranks.  When that happened, MAN WE LAUGHED SOO HARD. 

Now that could have gone another way. (A soggy Oreo on a long trip is devastating!) But I learned something that day. We need to find joy in times that are hard. 

The Gospel that so many of us are in, is a Gospel that teaches so often to endure to the end, which means to continually come to Christ and being perfected in Him. Its a hard task to start, but can honestly only be accomplished as we look for moments that bring smiles to our face!

As a missionary this week I have seen that happen. We had a young Girl named K. set for baptism and was hoping to have her brother Join her, but when she saw him...man he was SO RUDE. But he said something that made us laugh, (which is always awkward in a serious moment.) But he saw that we were joyful and asked why were laughing. My companion...he is so sharp...says that this Gospel is one of joy, that's why we are laughing. Which made this young man think. And because of that, we will be seeing him next week. :) 

I know that there are times when we receive a "soggy Oreo," but as we look torwards our Savior, He will show us the Joys in our lives, and will help us through those times! We will become better people as we do.

One last thing!! (I know this long!) But this week was something called General Confernce which is when have the chance to hear from living Apostles and the Prophet. It was Amazing. I had so many questions I wanted to have Answered. And I prayerfully thought about them, and all my questions were answered. I know that these men are men of God and they reach out to us through General Conference. They so often think about the "1 lost sheep rather then the 99" and somehow they Impact All 100. I urge you all to Listen to to the Apostles with Humble spirits and Humble ears, willing to listen and change if needed! 

I love you all!! 

Thank you for taking time to read this!

Elder Gish

Put Ourselves Aside and Say, "Thy Will Be Done."

Kia ora everyone!! 

OKAY SO THERE IS HEAPS TO WRITE!!! SO prepare yourself!

We almost got in a fight with a drunk guy this week! But then after, we had a cool experience.

The drunk guy just ended up walking away after we told him we didnt want any trouble.

So the cool experience was with some young kids, it was super cool. The way it started was this women N is an investigator...she hasn't had the best relationship with missionaries, but her kids like us. We come to find that her oldest son, P, likes playing touch football and so we said we would play it with him later, but not today because we were busy. Then we go back and N. and her sister are there with all their kids. N. was wanting the kids to get off the video games and play outside, so we went to her oldest son and asked if he wanted to play touch football, MAN WAS HE EXCITED. He got all his cousins to come play, then a bunch of the neighborhood kids came to play. So we had a huge gang of kids playing. After like 2 hours of playing, N. told us how thankful she was for us playing with the kids because she needed to get so much stuff done. She said she hated churches because they were just words, but she told us that we really practice what we preach. What a blessing that was for us.

We did alot of service this week too. We helped a part member family out with some gardening. The Mom, E., ( not a member) used to be taught. She is not keen anymore, but her kids  are. Their daughter K. came up to us and asked us if we can baptize people. It was quite a question and one we werent expecting, but we said yes. I LOVE WHAT SHE SAID NEXT. She said "what can i do to be baptized'. This week we will be back preparing her! How awesome, aye?

I thought about diligence this week. My dad would always say a quote, "The Kingdom of heaven is built on the edge of exhaustion." It made me think about my own service in building the kingdom. Am I "exhausted?" And am I doing all I can to build the kingdom? Is my energy really spent trying to build the kingdom? There seems to be a pattern placed that when we have done all we can, when we feel like we can't take one more step, we say "Father, I can't do it alone, but I will do it for thee," and then we make that last step, not for us, but for Him, and Them. That's when the blessings come. When we have done all we can, and put ourselves aside and say, "Thy will be done" and we literally lose ourselves, because all we can do is focus on what Heavenly Father needs from us. I know that is true and as we are diligent in all we do, we can be blessed.

Before i leave i just want to wish a happy birthday to my grandma, I know everyone here will be amazed... but my Grandmother is turning 41!! WOW!!!!!! I KNOW CRAZY!! (hahahaha) She is awesome! and i hope she has a great birthday!! LOVE YOU GRAMMIE!!!!

Love you all, 

Elder Gish.

The Lord is Always Standing By Us

Kia ora whanau!, tena koe e hoa!

I cant beleive its monday again.. I feel like i'm time traveling! the time is just going by so fast.

So it has been quite the week. But ill make this quick because of time:/ 

We had another chance this week to go on an exchange with MTC Elders. It was great to be with the same Elder, Elder T. Just in the week since we have seen him he grew so much! I gave him some advice of how to talk to strangers easier, and then the next time we go on exchanges he'll use it, but work on it in the MTC.  While we were out, man he was on fire! No person was passed without being spoken to. The confidence he had on knocking doors was amazing. Its amazing what we can do when we have the Lord's help. It reminds me that we shouldn't have any fear when we are on the Lord's errand. 

I want to share a bit on some studies I had that go perfectly with that experience. A scripture this week stood out to me heaps. Revelation 3:20

 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

The reason why I like this so much is because of one word " stand". It does not say "stood". The Lord is always standing by us. He always wants to come into our lives, and has never, nor will he ever give up on us and leave us. All we need to do is open our door to Him and allow Him to come into our lives. By doing so, He will change our lives for the better. The Savior loves us on a level that we don't fully understand, but we can know that He will never "leave us comfortless.' He is standing by us but we need to notice Him. I know that things are true.

Love you all!

-Elder Gish

Self Mastery is so Important!

Kia Ora Whanau! Tena A koe E hoa,

HOLY COW, WHAT A WEEK THIS HAS BEEN! 

Let me a start with a funny but awesome story, k? 

We were able to take some missionaries who are in the MTC tracting where we take half the day to let the ESL missionaries experience real missionary work. OH MY GOODNESS IT WAS SO FUNNY! I had this elder who was from Tahiti, Elder H., who is learning English. We went door knocking and I told him to show me what he had learned about door knocking at this door. So he goes up to the door all confident and then this HUGE Maori guy answers...and this poor elder.. just speechless...so scared that he passes gas hahaha! And he just looks back at me silently saying " help me!" So I go up. The guy at the door was so awesome, so humble and really wanted to learn more! Crazy, aye?

The week has been awesome! I am really loving it in this area. We have seen some pretty cool stuff happen. We went to contact a man Named T. He hasnt been too kind to missionaries in the past, so we were kinda hesitant about going over, but we felt that we should go. We went and this man was just so full of humility, invited us in and we taught him about the gospel. Afterwards he told us that he had been searching for someone to help change his life and he prayed, then we showed up! The Lord prepares his servants when they are willing to listen.

I heard an awesome quote the other day, 

" You can not say i am THY servant, until you can say I am MY master" so it made me think about our own self mastery. That we cant fully help others until we help ourselves. Its like on an airplane when the oxygen masks come down. We are asked to help our self first then help others. What good are we if oxygen masks come down in a spiritual sense and we deny them because we think we are helping others. If we don't put it on we may help one, but then pass out. But we can help more if we put that life support on. And that is true. I cannot fully help others come unto Christ if I am not there myself. It reminds me of a time in 7th grade when we were asked to do a task in PE. We were asked to climb this suspending ladder, with 5 foot gaps between each step.. My team didnt have the means or muscle to pull themselves self up. So I knew thatIi needed to be well supported enough on the step above them to help them up. We made it to the top as a team. I know that self mastery is so important! 

MASTER YOURSELF YOUNG PADAWONS

-Till next time

-obi one ka.. nah jk

Elder Gish 

P.S. these pics were taken by something called a SELFIE STICK!!! HOW FANTASTIC IS THAT? 

Organizing Ourselves

Hey everyone! 

So i am so sorry that i haven't done one of these updates in forever! So i made sure that i didnt miss one more! 

ALRIGHT SO HERES WHATS GOING DOWN. I have left Tauranga! This was probably one the hardest moves i have made so far. Man was that a great area! The people there (if your reading this) have been engraved into my heart. But now my heart is open to a new area! I got moved to Manurewa in South Auckland. Im so excited to be here, mainly because there is heaps of islanders here, and i just love them.. The down side to that is.. THEIR FOOD IS SO GOOD SO Good bye 6 months to sexy haha. 

But really is is such a privilege to be here. 

My new companion is Elder T. he is a Tongan (my 5th) and he has been out for 2 months. So i am follow up training him. He is great. That new missionary fire is contagious! In my new area there are heaps of islanders so usually they have an islander missionary, soo they aren't used to seeing a white guy hahaha. It's funny because i'll speak to them in their language and they are like "aye!! whats this palangi ( white person) doing speaking to us?!"

The other day as i was reading the scriptures, i was reading in Doctrine and Covenants 88:119 which says 

"Organize yourselves prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of Prayers, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order,  a house of God" I have read this over and over, until this changed for me. Organize yourselves stuck out to me more. In 1st Corinthians 3:16 we read "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the spirit of God Dwelleth in you" A temple is house of God, and our bodies are house for the Spirit. So when you read Doctrine and Covenants again, think of the house as in your body. And when we organize ourselves in these things, we become the house the Lord requires us to have to house His spirit more abundantly.

Love you all! 

Thanks for reading!

Ka kite ano

-Elder Gish

P.s Sorry no pictures...our house got broken into while we were gone, and someone needed my camara more then me! SORRY

The Reason I Am Where I Am.

July 5

Kia ora whanau!! Tena koe friends,

Well let me tell you something, this has been quite an awesome week! 

SO first and for most I sent heaps of pictures in, so I guess I will need to explain them. 

The first bunch of us at the church.  THAT'S D's ENTIRE FAMILY! MOM DAD HIM AND HIS SON AND PARTNER!  

The second bunch is at the church again. That is after district meeting. The islanders wanted me to jump in with them, so I thought a horsey back ride would be perfect. Then I'm holding Elder Koi...the biggest missionary in our mission.. 6'6..270lbs... big Elder.

Then The wood chopping one was a service. Everyone here runs off wood burning stoves and many of the members here don't have the funds to get wood, so the Elder's Quorum went out and chopped some wood. There is a picture there of two guys in highlight jackets. THATS D. AND HIS DAD they came!!

Then the last bunch was of an exchange. Elder K. is the Elder I am with on the beach. YES WE CAN GO TO THE BEACH. President Rudd (our mission president) said "we live on the most beautiful island, enjoy the beach you just can go past your knee line." Then the last picture of the beach is at 5:00 am.  New Zealand is the first place the sun hit in the world so you have to wake up early to catch a sun rise.

OKAY SO HOPEFULLY THAT HELPS A LITTLE BIT WITH THE EXPLANATION.

The pictures are worth 1000 words. D. and his entire family came to church this Sunday. It was AMAZING to see them there! They are doing so well. In fact D. and his Dad helped us with service so that they could get closer to the ward! I think the pictures explain enough! 

Love you all!

-Elder Gish

August 23

Kia ora whanau, tena koe e hoa!,

Well my family its been another crazy week! Sorry I have been pretty slack on my emails! 

Nothing super spectacular happened this week.. a lot of appts. fell through which is hard when its so flipping hot here right now. I swear I'm on the verge of heat stroke. 

Thursday was an eventful day. My companion and I were having a very hard day knocking on doors. When we went to knock on one door, we had to open up a gate and out of no where a pitbull comes after us and my companion hides behind me.... a flipping Tongan! That's like a bear hiding behind a rabbit. NOW before we go on you must know that my patience fuse and been used up and my side back wasn't on my shoulder, I was carrying it. So when the dog looked like it was going to bite, in comes Babe Ruth with a home run swing...knocked this

dog out.  Luckily the person that lived there wasn't home to see this White guy knocking his dog out...probably not the best first impression! But the dog is okay! 

But on to more spiritual sides to the mission! D. is doing great. It was stake conference this weekend, and he really wanted to come. Which was exactly what he needed. The main focus was on the importance of families, and the Restoration! He loved it and  it reproved me a bit. As a missionary we want people to take to us, so we share usually The Plan of Salvation first...answering the questions of the soul like, Why are we here?  Where are we going? Was I somewhere before? It talks about how families can be together forever which everyone wants to hear! But The reason why we are different, the reason I am where I am, is because of the restoration. God has once again called Prophets to the Earth, and along with it came Scripture, and Authority. It took a new spin for me and D. and so it was exactly what we needed to hear at the time. 

He and is family are great. His parents moved out and want us to bless their home because, they were there when we blessed D's. and they said they loved how the house felt, and they want that! 

Well that's all for now! 

Arohanui!

-Elder Gish