“Those Words Will Echo Within Him”

Kia Ora Maori!

Man everyone this week was so awesome! It was just skux az. We got heaps done! Elder Harmon and I just struggled before with contacting people on the streets. So this week we just hit the beat and talked to everyone!! like literally telling people to wait so we can talk to them ! it was way fun.

Contacting people this week has been such a joy! but here is the craziest thing that happened! we had a talk with some on the street who was a less active and became a Rastafarian. He was telling us all about how weed is a cure for everything right now like depression cancer, basically everything, telling us that he's studied about all this stuff and how he sells it to all these people. and so on and so forth, so I asked him, I said "man it seems like you got all this knowledge about how to help people, what are you doing with that knowledge" and man he blew up and got so mad! and so we talked about how God is the best place to turn to. weed could have cured things temporarily, maybe. and he was just getting mad, saying some really harsh things. and as he walked away I said " listen man God loves you and he knows what your going through" just words that popped out of now where. Elder Harmon turned to me and said Do you know what just happened. you made him realize that what he was doing was wrong and he knew it and got angry ( read 3 Nephi 7: 17-18) something similar happened in those two verses! it was just a testimony to how powerful the spirit is when we are able to use it when it is needed most. We never got to see this young man again but I heard the word in my head, "those words will echo within him". I sure hope he knows that God loves him. And that he loves each of us individually.

I have been trying to comprehend how much God and Christ loves us. I guess to sum it up the scriptures say it best "I will not leave you comfortless" The Lord has promised us angels on our left and our right, and he will never let us down. They are there. And they know what we go through in our each and everyday life. They will be there to lift us up. I have gained such a strong testimony of that this week!

Everyone KIA KAHA!!
- your kiwi Elder Gish

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

 

Kia Ora my brothers and sisters!

So these last two weeks... man they have been so slow.. and cold... its like 30 degrees here with rain... its crazy.. What sucks is me and my companion have been trying soo hard to find new people.. and nothing is coming of it, it was a little bit disheartening... But what we see is that God puts us through things to make sure we Still are doing the right and not being slothful. What I have found since being on my mission is that it is easy being obedient. STAYING obedient is where I see the struggle. Not personally though, I think im stricter than my trainer.... that's okay though:) NOW that doesn't mean we didn't do anything! we got in touch with a lot of less actives. man there is this family named the Mcqueens.. They are seriously the best! Elder Harmon and I had the feeling to go see them, and some seriously awesome things happened. We saw them at church next sunday!!! it was awesome! I went and talked to them and they were just saying thank you.

Sister George our mission mom, also the bishops wife was calling us angels. It was awesome to feel appreciated that much, and to the extent of being called an angel. SO while we may not have found new people to teach. We still did our best to work with people that have forgotten how much Heavenly Father Loves us!

oh and some sweet stuff happened!! Our Ward Mission Leader is really into deep Doctrine like holy flip. so when we talk with him or go to his place to report, we get nailed with deep doctrine. its crazy!!!

Really that's this week! it was pretty good though! its such an honor to serve here! we had the chance to see one of the first Copies of The Book Of Mormon ever published. I love it. the person that showed us it was from America.. it was weird hearing that accent!!

I love this Gospel and I Love these people so much. I am thankful to a wonderful Mother And Father who did their best to keep me in this Gospel. I never got to say happy mother day to all the mothers! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

My mom is seriously The bomb. Not only is she my mom but she is like a best friend! I don't know where I would be without her in my life. She knew my potential and did everything to keep me headed in the right track! I don't think a lesson will go by where I don't tell stories of her.  I love you so much mom!
Love you all!

- Elder kiwi Gish

Week of Studies

Hey Everyone! Kia ora,

WOW what a week, I think if I could make a title for this week, it would be "WEEK OF STUDIES"

I know this will be a shock to hear, but man I studied way hard this week. What we learn from the scriptures is that the Holy Ghost can only bring things to our remembrance, He cant give us things we haven't learned. So in my head I was like ah flip, I NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING! So I started most of my readings over, and really dug into it all. WOW I love reading!!! ( I bet Mom and Dad never expected those words). It helped so much to have all this knowledge when people have lots of questions and concerns. It was seriously amazing to see what the Holy Ghost can do for us when we are worthy to have Him around.

Anyway! on to the work. This week was awesome! It didn't rain a lot, which is a HUGE miracle. New England, you have nothing on New Zealand when it comes to rain... New Zealand doesn't understand the words sprinkle when it comes to rain, it just dumps rain... it seriously feels like someone just takes a bucket and is like "whoops slipped'  SPLASH OVER YOU. but it means no showers:) hah jk that would be gross.. Sorry everyone going on big tangents here!

I love these people so much! we have an investigator, his name is Hayden, he is so flipping awesome! He is seriously like best friend, always wants us over, feeds us, the whole shbang! WE EVEN HAVE A SECRET HANDSHAKE! what! which isn't a big deal, we have secret handshakes with most of the youth in our ward. BUT NOT WITH AN INVESTIGATOR. and to top it all off Hayden is super keen on learning, and shares it with his girlfriend. really besides for him being awesome it was a normal week! which is an awesome week by the way. There is never a "normal week" just weeks where there is no crazy lows or highs.

OH one thing though that was flipping awesome! WE had a day with 5 set appointments!! now that may not seem like a lot, but it is! like holy smokes a lot, and seeing how we need to scoot in dinner.. it means we get to grab a bag of crisps and an apple and head out. I LOVE IT!!

SO ready for the awesome scripture of the week! it is found In 3 Nephi 7. BEST chapter! those who can should read it! That's my challenge as well:) well I need to go back to work! i love you all!!

Remember Spiritually Minded Is Life Eternal!

SMILE

-Kia Ngawhari

Elder Gish

Chase and his companion trying to scare another set of missionaries in their apt at 9 p.m.

 

Typical meal.

 

Critter and Companion. (Better than a praying mantis, though. See previous blog post for explanation.)

Preparation Day (Pday) with his District Leader

 

Necessity is the mother of invention.

One Track Missionaries!

Kia ora everyone!

Man I seriously never thought P-day would come.. this week has been moving at about the speed of smell... literally... this was Anzach day weekend ( our equivalent of memorial day).

So what is going on this week?! Tonagn Feasts... UH OH! we didn't get invited to one THANKFULLY (basically the Tongans will make enough food for the planet, and then somehow think that 14 people could finish it all.) So thankfully we didn't have to experience rolling on our bellies when we finish dinner. And to make life so much better it rained most of this week as well! woo! we learned that New Zealand will get about 5 feet of rain a year.... That's an inch and a half a week! no wonder this country is so flipping green!!! The grass is really greener on the other side! other side of the world that is (man that was cheesy) :)

ANYWAY so the work this week was slow, but that is okay! it just means that the next week will be fast!  But even though things get slow Heavenly Father doesn't make us suffer through it all. Some seriously awesome things have happened this week! First off let me tell you a funny as story.

We are in praying mantis season and they are everywhere! We were having the District Leader and his comp over for studies, and we saw this weird as Prayner, so what do we do? We become the crocodile hunter and go look at it! And to make things even worse I have to move it! Now if you know me, I do not mind bugs, so I was like oh yeah I’m all good! HOLY FLIP THE THING FLIES!!! I don't think I can remake the girlish scream I made when it went towards me, so what do I do run! However there was a wall in the way and I couldn't escape!!! So since I freak out, the rest of the Elders freak out, and so there wewere, four full grown Elders running away from a bug.. It happeed more then once too, but now I know, those bugs can fly.. NO TOUCHY

anyway! off that tangent.

SO many miracles have happened this week. It was a slow as week, but that's okay when we are being pounded my miracles.

One humungous miracle was that I didn't get transferred! I get to stay in this area! I love it so much here. Two was we have so many  investigators who are just so awesome and one is helping his flat mates understand what we are teaching. They are all just so awesome! When we go knock on their doors, they are just like "Elders or Brothers It’s freezing out, come in.” and they just give us milo ( New Zealand Hot coco) and we just talk! It’s such a blessing to be around these people.

But then the most amazing thing happened. The reason why I didn't email yesterday was because we had Zone Conference with one of the Seventy. His name is Elder Pierson.This GA (shannon here: General Authority) was seriously up there right next to Elder Holland on motivation. HE WAS INCREDIBLE!!! The Spirit was sooooo strong, it was almost thick enough to drink. He seriously is a servant of Heavenly Father. He had so much love for all of us, and we could feel it! IMAGINE what Heavenly Father’s love is like, and He knows us better then we do! Elder Pierson seriously made us One track missionaries! An eye single to the glory of God. He talked about our divine nature that is within us and how through Christ’s Gospel we can just get a Glimpse of what we can be. WE ARE DIVINE! It was seriously amazing! We are all children of a God! We have so much potential! It was amazing! I can’t put it into words of how amazing it was!

SO as always, keep being awesome! Remember who you are!! and what you are as well.

- Your kiwi ( who has gained some weight)...

Elder Gish

When it rains we just need to laugh and enjoy:)

Kia Ora everyone,

SO Guess what! we had another cyclone!! YAY!!!! I thought id get that out of the way first... it was actually so amazing. New Zealand has been having a really bad Drought these last few years, and id say that the cyclone cleared it all up! it down poured for at least 2 days. Which is wonderful when you are on Bikes. No seriously its awesome! its always between 70-80 degrees all day and this was a much needed cool down! Miracles in all things!

So this week was a week of miracles. Not only in the work but in our District. SO ill start with the work. First of Thursday was exchanges and the craziest thing happened. As me and Elder Griffen ( The exchange Elder) are biking and he passes these two guys and as I was going by them he says HI ELDERS so I turn around and talk them, one of the guys named Wananga was a less active member, and has been thinking about coming back after a few signs he has had. and seeing us was a the sure sign he needed to go back and started to cry saying thank you! WHAT!!!

The work was really slow this week, but that's to be expected when its raining tigers and wolves. ( that’s bigger cats and dogs) no one was out, or home.. which is odd. But this week something amazing happened.

We have been teaching this young man. he’s skux as. We have been having a really hard time contacting him. He is always busy, so after 7-8 tries of contacting him with no success we were thinking about dropping him. Which is never a good feeling, but as I was praying I had this impression to just try one more time. So we did. AND brought reinforcement. Two skux young men named Ezra and Paris. SO we make the trip to his house and HES THERE!! MIRACLE NUMBER ONE! AND WE HAVE TWO YOUNG MEN! MIRACLE TWO! and so we talk, and we arrange a date to go see him and teach and play a little touch! MIRACLE THREE!! AND IT DIDNT ALL FALL THROUGH!! MIRACLE FOUR!! so we go to the park and Teach him, and he said that he had been reading the Book Of Mormon and praying!! MIRACLE FIVE!! and so we talked about that, and how the church was restored, man the spirit was so strong. You would think that at a park the noise would drown out the Spirit but it didn't! it actually seemed as if Heavenly Father turned down the volume so that the spirit could testify of the truth.

After we taught, he pauses and basically says he feels that he should be BAPTISED!! MIRACLE KABOOOM!!!!!!! so he is set for baptism next month! like holy flipping awesome! What we realize is that when Heavenly Father wants the Spirit to be there He does everything possible so it will be. But we first have to be worthy to have it there with us, other wise we can’t do anything. So that was Friday- Saturday. Sunday another storm came and we had to bike to church, in the rain... in suits. and as we were getting poured on, we just start busting out laughing! like hysterically, almost to the point of falling off our bikes.. and what was funny was at the point where we started to actually enjoy the rain, and are grateful for what it does. The rain wasn't a problem!! What was a problem was having our suit pants stuck to our legs all of church.

This week tested my attitude of Gratitude. I’m so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to serve the Lord. And be around these wonderful people. When it rains we just need to laugh and enjoy:)

You are all amazing!!

- your favourite kiwi!

-Elder Gish