I've learned a lot of things.

Hello Whanau (family in  maori)!!!

it's been a great week and I've learned a lot of things...

lets see, I want to share with  you some of the fun things that I remembered happened this week...

We had ward conference and for ward conference here they always have a ward activity the night before. It was a blast and us as missionaries played a part in it. We met up at Tuakau college(highschool) and we all played sports for a good while and then we started dinner and then had a variety show(talent show). they asked the missionaries to do a part in it and so we tried brain storming for like two weeks and last Monday we came up with an idea, however, we put it together right before the performance. We did the skit where you look like a little person. We did the life preparing for a mission, the elders putting on a tie, sisters combing our hair and brushing teeth, and then we sang "I hope they call me on a mission". then we "grew up" and sang "Nephi's courage" and did some service and were missionaries! It was so much fun! what a fun night it was. We had all sorts of cultural dances, guitar, funny skits' etc. I am so grateful that I was still in this area to experience it with them:)

Monday night we had dinner at the kiribus house, the bereti family, and then FHE. Eating with them was so cool because they eat in a cultural way. We all sat on the floor and then they passed the plates around in a circle until everyone had one. the dad then made us to silly things like, plug our nose, open our eye with our fingers, touch our ears! ha then we ate. It was a fun experience.

There is an old lady that we teach, who has unfortunately told us that she wants to stick with her own relgion.. her name is Helen. But anyway, she is teaching us how to crochet! it's so cool. we were making those slipper socks and if I get transferred she's going to finish them and send them to me. She is the cutest sweetest lady:) I love learning new talents and abilities.

We rode our bikes a lot this week and boy did I love it. Usually we just take the car, but I was sick of that and wanted to get out and experience "real missionary life". ha the bike made me smile so much:D  We had some beautiful days and some not so beautiful days. You gotta imagine, the wind blowing your skirt up with trying to ride in the rain. It's a fun experience. I prefer wearing long skirts on the bike so that I don't get frustrated trying to keep it down! ha

WE had an ant outbreak in our apartment, so some members gave us this ant killer. It is this honey looking stuff and you put it in a 'cage' thing. It was COVERED with ants. gross... fun experience though! ha

I've been saying good-bye to a lot of people because i'm assuming my time is up here. I really have loved it here, and the good thing is that we've been able to get into some homes that have been turning us away, such as john and kiha. I am so glad that they still love me! ha I was able to get a picture with them and she asked for a prayer before we left:) she told me that I've changed their life so much.. if they only knew how much better it could be.. ha

Jordon is doing so much better lately. As part of the ward conference we had a rescue night and a lot of the ward went out and did visits with many of the less actives and investigators. some of the males visited Jordon and it helped him so much. He lost the spark for a while but when they read to him Moroni 10:32 he said that it hit him. It reads " come unto Christ and be perfected in him... and in nowise deny the power of God". he said that he felt he had been denying God all this time... and now he doesn't want to do it to him anymore. It was neat to see him excited to come to church. When we went over and he told us this I almost cried that he was coming back and strong:) he even fed us and was please that he could  say "he fed the missionaries" ha . Noodles... gotta love it! I am grateful for anything.

this morning before emails we went on a hike as a district and it was so fun. it really wasn't a hike or at least it didn't feel like it, we were strolling through steep hills that looked like paddocks (fields) with sheep in them. not really a trail, which made it feel like it wasn't a hike, but the climb was. so much fun. It was so foggy that we couldn't see anything, however, I prayed that Heavenly Father would lift the fog. As we kept going and even got to the top the fog still wasn't lifted. I said " I guess I lack faith". we then turned and saw for like 1 minute that the fog had been a bit cleared and we could see a little bit of the distance. We then started to head back and slowly the fog lifted. We were able to see so much that we couldn't see  before. The Lord truly had answered my prayer, I just needed to be patient and trust him. I suppose we could relate this to all of our lives. We all go through trial and hardship. Maybe it's with testimony, maybe family etc (the fog) we pray for it to be lifted and we feel that when we get to the top or handled all we can handle that the Lord still hasn't answered our prayers. some of us may give up at this point, some may have already given up. But if we hold on a little longer I can promise that the fog will lift and you will see the blessings in front of you. John 14:18 "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you"

Our investigator Cheryl is doing well. She has a few hold backs with feeling loyalty to family but she does know that it's all true. I have really come to love her. finding Cheryl was really a blessing. She always says that everything happens for a reason, that she feels she's known us or met us before. she is so prepared and I know that her family on the other side that she feels loyalty toward is also ready to receive their ordinances.

I love you all! Please pray for Cheryl, the stenklev-gussey family, semau family, and our ward.

love you

sister Bird

 

1. We made it to the top! can you see the fog!