The first week was pretty good. I still haven't really settled in yet, because I went on exchange with Elder Danner (from my MTC district) up in Westport from Wednesday to Friday. So I have spent a decent amount of time out of my own area, but I got to work with Elder Danner and the Westport sisters for a bit, which was good.
I am pretty sure you would not want to eat these eels. The stream is super nasty, and the eels smell vaguely of gasoline. They are basically just like carp or catfish, just bottom feeders.
No we do not have a car. If we need a ride, we call the senior couple, E/S Brown, and the Hokitika Elders take us to church and district meeting. We have mostly just been walking, but we will start biking a lot more now. I think I should be fine as we make the shift from summer to autumn and winter. That rain coat is kind of useless though. The hood seems kind of small in proportion to the jacket, and it starts to seep through after not a terribly large amount of water.
My companion is the District Leader, I am the most highly esteemed, defender of the faith, District Leader Assistant, Esq. That is not a real title. I'm just his companion, but I think it sounds good. It does mean that every transfer, we will go on exchange with the Zone Leaders and all the Elder companionships in the district. Honestly, I am not sure what our calling is with the branch. I guess we will continue teaching Sunday school; youth is only sometimes, I guess other Sundays we will teach Priesthood. I think we trade off with the other elders and with the Branch President.
The Youth Night on Fridays is kind of just what we do to give them a weekly activity, and for them to hopefully bring friends that we can turn into investigators. Haha, mostly the kids are 15 or younger and appropriately sized, but N is a big guy. I think he likes to pick on us a bit, but he is still just a 15 year old kid. He is also usually the only member that will come with us to teaching appointments. We are helping him prepare for his mission.
There are a few investigators, but mostly just referrals to be contacted, potential investigators, and less active or recent convert members we are working with. No, I don't think we will be doing any Family History.
So last week we had exchanges with the Westport Elders, this week we will have Zone Conference up in Nelson, and the week after we will have an exchange with the Hokitika Elders, and somewhere in there also with the Zone Leaders. On Thursday, I am going to be spending the day with Elder Lee and Elder Halladay down in Hokitika as well, because Elder Sio has to go to Christchurch for some South Island Mission Leader something or other training.
We have also been doing a decent amount of service. I am getting a haircut today I think. I can't really think of anything else. That is pretty much it I reckon.
We stopped at Pancake rocks on the way back from exchanges. It was alright haha
My Testimony as shared at church yesterday-
“I know that the message of the Restoration is true. The Book of Mormon is proof of this. Our Heavenly Father loves us, so even though He took His gospel from the earth, he has again provided a way for us to know His truth. God has again called a living prophet to testify of Christ, and lead us on the right path back to Heaven. I believe in personal revelation. We may not feel the earth shake or see Heavenly Father in the storm or the fire, but He will speak to us, impress us with thoughts and feelings, and help us find our way in this "dark and dreary waste." Christ came to earth to die for our sins, and was resurrected, so that we may return to our Heavenly Father and live again after we die here on earth. It is our job while we are here to prepare to meet our God and to help our brothers and sisters do the same. If we are in a position to help, we should. While we are on our missions, we only have a limited time to do as much good as we can, so we need to make the most of it. That is why we tell people we love doing service, but they are always surprised, which is an unfortunate effect of the society we live in. I know that this church is Christ’s church on the earth today, and that Joseph Smith was the man that God chose to be the Prophet of the Restoration.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”
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