19 January 2014

19 January 2014

Kia Ora, 

YOUTUBE: check out Elder Jones opening his mission call to the Bermuda Triangle.... yep, that’s my District Leader. 

If you YouTube Kia Kaha Hamilton NZ you should be able to see me and the WHOLE mission area singing a song. If you look closely and see me (which I don’t know if you can or not) you will see that I do not know the words.

So... sad news. 3 missionaries got sent home this week. There is a lot of disobedience happening. Apparently there was some lying to the president and a lot of flirting...... Not sure who got sent home but president is annnngrryyyyy..... He sent out a "VOICE OF WARNING" to everyone. Poor man, he has a big job to do. 

So we had a mini transfer this week. My trainer, Sister Hutt was moved!!!!! Noooooooo. My other companion cried and I was in shock for the rest of the day. Luckily the lord loves us and sent us sister McCarthy from Australia. She is so fun and such a blessing to have here (Did I mention she is a Chief???? She bought lots of food her first dayyyy.  We will never be hungry again! lol).

Now more than ever I feel soooo "white". I thought I knew what that meant before but I didn't. I can't really explain all that it means but part of it is not being quick to hug, then being awkward when you do (handshakes are so much more simple which is probably why all "white" people do it) gahh mahh berr gerr. My companions will tell you I am white and nerdy... and that, ladies and gentlemen, goes deeper than just the color of my skin :)   Some of the "white" people we have met are very fascinating. We met one, who wore jean shorts, shorter than his legs! It looked quite painful but it did make his legs look longer (daisy duke dude) which is the only possibly reason for one to wear shorts that short, right?.... 

One thing I am picking up from my Samoan companion is - talking with my eyes. This involves the expressive motion of moving your eyebrows up and down several times quickly in a conversation. It also means, "yah" or "yep".... when done twice in a row.   

Anyways, exciting WEEK!! This Friday our investigator Joanna is getting MARRIED! And BAPTIZED!! Everything is falling into place and we even have people donating wedding dresses and flowers and food (most of which aren't even members or investigators). But a lot of people have seen Joanna's transformation and want to give her their support. Funny story... Our Branch President (formally a Catholic) came to our class on Sunday (taught by a member) where we were to talk about Baptism in the Gospel Essentials class. By the end of the class we had talked about garments, hell, & everything in between. It was the roughest lesson I have ever had to sit through! We tried so hard to bring it back to the basics but some people just love to talk, eh?  But our investigator still getting baptized so it must not have scared her off too much. 

We are starting an ESL class this week as well as a Sports Night for the youth in the community. Because there is nothing to do in our small town everyone is involved in drugs. Soooo, thanks to the help of Sister McCarthy we are going to be creating a lot of activities that keep people busy!

Kia kaha (be strong)

Sister Moore