More Pictures!!!!

Lyndsi met my Grandma Hale's friend Dolly. She is serving a mission in New Zeland as well.

Her intake group from the MTC.

These are two of Lyndsi's roommates from the MTC.

At the New Zealand Temple. Aren't the clouds just beatiful!! You know how Lyndsi Loves the clouds.

Sorry I don't know why I couldn't get all the pictures to upload on the same post. You will just have to bear with my as I get this blogging thing all figured out. 

Love, Nicole

We have pictures!!!

Below are a few of the pictures that Lyndsi has sent.

Isn't she just the cutest missionary!

This is Elder Katoa who she was stranded with in the LA Airport.

This is her companion from the MTC.

A Rough Start

Hello Friends and Family! We had a wonderful Christmas and were able to talk to Lyndsi on Christmas Day. Here to tell you that an hour is just not long enough! 

Just as an FYI we found out that the mail takes between three and four weeks to get delivered to Lyndsi so if she is slow to respond to your letters that is why. If you would like to email her the email is lyndsi.miggin@myldsmail.net. She isn't allowed to respond directly to you but I will make sure that everyone gets her reply. And I know she would love to hear how everyone is doing because she has been a little home sick the last few days.

Below is the email we received from her this past Monday. 
 
So we left the MTC Wednesday morning and headed down to Hamilton. We did orientation stuff all day and then they put us up in a nasty old motel. We killed about sixteen spiders before we finally gave up and went to bed anyway lol It felt a lot more like a hostel than a motel lol

 Any way the next day we spent with the Mission President and His wife at their house and at 11 in the morning we went to the transfer meeting. I got put in a companion ship of three.


I was sent to Pukekohe which is the scariest part of South Auckland apparently. Its pretty hood but the people have all been pretty nice to us. There are dogs wandering the streets everywhere but they have never given us any problems and EVERYONE is outside all the time. No one has air conditioning so they all sit in their garages and listen to music and stuff we have taught most our lessons outside or in garages.lol All the little kids play outside all day long and none of them where shoes. Elder Herschie saw a sign once that said 1 in 4 kids in New Zealand dont have shoes and he said "Ya thats because 3 out of 4 wont wear them lol" No one wears Shoes!! And all men where their little bootie rugby shorts everywhere.

My two companions are Sister Holmes and Sister Pearce. The first few days with them were HORRIBLE!!!! Poor Sister Holmes is such a peacemaker and Sister Pearce and I were at a rough start. I came in excited and ready to work and she has only been here four weeks and was pissed that we were now in a tri-panionship. She didn't want me here and we have since talked and she said she felt insecure because I am older than both of them and she is barely nineteen she just graduated in June. When I first met here she was  basically my worst nightmare for a companion so I am glad I got it out of my way right of the bat. After three days of spending hours on my knees and crying and thinking what the crap have I done. We talked it all out and there is no other way I can think of that things got better except that God softened my heart and hers because I love both these girls to death now. Yesterday on Sunday things were wonderful we got along like old friends and we saw so many miracles that being the first!!

Our next miracle was when we had an appointment at three right during church so we went on splits and Sister Holmes stayed with a sweet sister in the ward while Sister Pearce and I went to teach a sweet young single mother named Tenaou. We walked all the way to her house and knocked on the door for about ten minutes. No answer. So we picked up her gate that had fallen down and leaned it on the fence and headed back to church about fifteen minutes later when we were almost back to the church mid conversation Sister Pearce says " I think we need to go back." I looked at her funny and kinda said "Seriously?"lol and she said "YUP" And so I said ok lets go it cant hurt. We walked all the way back and Tenaou came walking out the door before we even made it up the driveway. We talked to her for a while and she said that she has been wanting to make some changes in her life to stop drinking and smoking. She stopped talking with the Jehovah witnesses because she felt like something was missing. She pretty much asked me if I really think the gospel could help her overcome her challenges when I said yes she was shocked. She asked us to please come back because she really wanted to learn more!

Next miracle of the sabbath is when we went to visit one of Bishop Tangi's referrals they were busy so we decided to tract a little in the area because we had never been there... OUR AREA IS HUGE!!! And after about thirteen doors this man answered the door named Collin he was probably in his late fifties early sixties he ran and put some pants on and his partner Lillian stayed in their bedroom but he invited us right on in to talk. (p.s. Partner here doesn't mean the same thing as in America NO ONE is married here they all just live together forever) Him and Lillian have been together 23 years. Any way we got talking with him and when I asked him what he knew about the Mormons he knew just a little to much. So I told him that I thought he knew more than he was saying. He laughed and said ya I do its because I used to be Mormon. Eventually the conversation turned into his life story which is he got baptized in the seventies when the missionaries found him he said his first prayer felt the spirit and that was it. He married a return missionary in the temple and they had four kids together. Their marriage lasted ten years and when he talked about how it ended he was so sad. He said he continued going to church for a little while after the divorce where he met Lillian who was an investigator but she has never been baptized. He said that after that he got into the anti-Mormon stuff on the internet and that is how he fell away from the church. He quizzed us on that for a bit but when we asked him if he once really believed the church is true he said yes. He said he has been praying about finding a church and when he has seen us walking around he has just been to scared to stop. He promised to read and pray about the book of Mormon again. And when we left the appointment he said the most heart felt prayer I have literally ever heard. He was pleading with God for the truth right in front of us. Also thanks for the sparkly eyes mom he kept talking about how sparkly my eyes are. Anyway miracles happen I love you all so much I miss you!!
  
As always please keep Lyndsi and her companions in your prayers and I will keep you posted on her progress. 

Love, Nicole

INSPIRATION and MARCO

Wanted to thank everyone who has been asking me for Lyndsi's address. I hope she feels the love what with all the letters she is going to be getting! 

We got another update from Lyndsi this week. Below are her adventures. 

ABOUT THE MTC:

I leave the MTC tomorrow morning (December 18th) and head off to meet my Mission President and my new companion. I am so excited! The MTC has been a great experience! I feel like I have learned and grown a ton. I had three awesome teachers and we all got along great and became really good friends probably cause they are the same age as me! lol

ABOUT THE FOOD: 

So I have been more willing to try the food this week, probably because I was starving to death but I tried an egg and cream flavored candy that Pres Tarawhiti gave me and it was pretty good! Also my companions sister brought her these yummy licorice things the raspberry flavor had milk chocolate down the middle and the mango licorice had white chocolate down the middle. YUM! Also super funny they only put gravy on meat and when I smooshed up my potatoes and put gravy on them everyone but the Americans thought I had lost my mind. The Americans thought it was genius! lol

ADVENTURE #1

We usually wake up at 5:30 in the morning to shower and get ready on time and by we I mean me. Sister Tafa sleeps til I'm done showering and then she gets up. But the other night I decided to shower the night before (INSPIRATION!) because Sister Tafa woke up at 5:45 and went in to take a shower and there was a mouse in the bathroom! The other 3 of us woke up to blood curdling screams from sister Tafa. Luckily she hadn't undressed yet because she came darting out of the bathroom and jumped on her bed yelling "RAT, RAT" And sister Moore saw it run under Sister Ryan's bed. All the other girls were screaming but I was nice and safe on the top bunk.

All their suitcases were open under their beds so I convinced Sister Moore to come with me to find someone to help. Since it was so early no one was awake so we went back to the room to catch the mouse ourselves.

We told sister Tafa to just start getting ready so we wouldn't be late and to shut the bathroom door while we catch the mouse. Sister Ryan and Moore both chickened out on me so it was me and the the floor mop out to catch the mouse. I started pulling all their suitcases out one by one and beating the tar out of everything inside them with the mop. When I felt certain that no mouse was in a suitcase I would put it on a bed. Soon the entire floor was cleared and no mouse was found. So it was either dead in a suitcase or it had somehow crawled under the bathroom door.

Sister Moore knocked on the bathroom door and told Sister Tafa not to be alarmed but we were pretty sure the mouse was in the bathroom with her. Soon after... we heard the screams confirming that was where our little mouse "Marco" had gone. (We named him Marco because we were playing Marco Polo trying to find him) She was still naked so she jumped back in the shower. I told her through the door to grap her towel so I could come catch the mouse. When I opened the bathroom door it was hilarious!! She was dripping wet in her towel in the shower hiding behind the glass door scared to death lol I almost died laughing!! The mouse was hiding under her clothes so me and the trusty mop went digging for it. It sprinted out of the bathroom though and under our bedroom door out into the hallway. I chased after it but it was long gone. They still haven't caught him. lol Good ol' Marco is haunting the halls somewhere I guess.

ADVENTURE #2

On the bus ride to the temple on Thursday it was dead silent for about thirty minutes until on of the Tongan elders started singing hymns. All the other Tongan Elders chimed in and sang us all the way to the temple for the next hour. Even though I didn't understand what they were singing It was so beautiful and I felt the spirit so strong.

I kept hoping I would get the chance to hear them sing again and well I got my wish. I am literally the only person who can play the piano in the MTC so I get nominated to play at every meeting. The Tongan Elders were asked to sing in Sundays devotional So I have got to practice with them all week and they have been serenading me with my favorite Christmas song all week "Silent Night" and besides having to play it has been so wonderful. Well I love you so much and I hope you all have a great week if I don't get to write you again.

SOMETHING SPIRITUAL

My next story is of one of the elders in my district. His name is Elder Otto and he is one of the coolest people I have met here at the MTC. He is from one of the tiny little Islands in Vanuatu ( I probably spelled it wrong)  But he literally learned English FLUENTLY in less than five days. When he told me he didn't speak any English before he got to the MTC I almost died!! His English is literally almost perfect just with a really strong accent when I asked him how he did it he said I prayed a lot and read the Book of Mormon a lot. I am here to tell you the gift of tongues is REAL!!

Well I hope we didn't lose on this post. Who knew Lyndsi was such a Chatty Cathy???

 I am glad to know that the rodent issue has been somewhat resolved and that all those years my Mom payed for piano lessons did not go to waste.....with Lyndsi at least. :)

As always please keep Lyndsi in your prayers and I will keep you updated on her adventures in the mission. 

Love, Nicole 

THE MTC EXPERIENCE

Lyndsi actually made it to New Zealand, YAY!

We got our first email from her this week. Very exciting stuff. Below are some of the things she shared about her life in the MTC.

ABOUT HER COMPANION: 
My companion is Sister Tafa-Muavaa and she is great we laugh hysterically together all time, and we work really well together in study and in teaching the fake invesitgators. She is from Austrailia and is going to be serving there in the Syndney South Mission. 

ABOUT THE MTC:
There are a couple other missionaries from the states but the other about 70 of them are from Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Austrailia and New Zealand and a couple other little Islands I cant pronounce. And trying to pronounce all their names is a joke, they mostly just laugh at me really hard when I try so usually I just call them Sister or Elder.haha

ABOUT NEW ZEALAND: 
Its BEAUTIFUL here! It rains a lot but only for like ten minutes and then the sun comes right back out. Everything is green even the tree trunks covered in moss and the clouds are out of control beautiful and they make the sunsets magnificent. I can see the ocean and part of the city from my room to which is fun. All the girls here have been so welcoming and loving and they are all so wonderful. It is customary to kiss someone on the cheek to say hello when you shake their hand if you love and respect them so I have had a lot of kisses:)

ABOUT THE FOOD: 
The only thing I don't like is the food. IT IS AWFUL!! I hate it!! And the MTC President, President Tarawhiti (Tara-fiti) watches you as you clear your plate and you are not allowed to throw any food away at all (except me with cheese and milk and stuff because I'm lactose Intolerant LUCKILY! ;) ) When I first got here I tried their porridge and I had gotten a bowl of cereal just in case luckily because I hated porridge so I poured it in my cereal bowl after i was done and let it settle to the bottom under the milk so President Tarawhiti wouldn't know haha So I just don't take anything I wont eat for sure anymore. I may be starving to death my clothes are already fitting a little looser. They eat Tomatoes and Mushrooms with every meal including breakfast and they put vegetables in their biscuits and they make pancakes with corn in them (instead of chocolate chips lol) And NOTHING is seasoned no salt or even pepper. Its very bland. They also make pork and beans or these weird spaghetti-o things for breakfast every morning and eat it on their toast with fresh tomatoes on top?? Who does that?lol Yesterday they made hamburgers and they were not anything like American hamburgers but me and the two other people from Utah were so excited we made fry sauce and I almost ate the whole thing, my companion was so excited that I was eating!!

LIFE LESSON: 
Also all the candy mom sent with me, I am glad that I brought it. Everyone loves me now because they got to try American candy.... You can tell her that it is universal to use candy to make friends!haha

Lyndsi gets to visit the Aukland Temple tomorrow which will be a fun little field trip for her! She also said "I feel good and I love what I am doing!" which makes me happy.

If you would like to write Lyndsi the addresses are here on the page and if you want me to send her a message with my weekly letter I am happy to do it! Just shoot me a text, email or leave a comment.

Please keep Lyndsi in your prayers and I will keep you updated on her progress.

Nicole

GETTING TO NEW ZEALAND

Hello Family and Friends. Thought we should get this blog rolling.

By way of update Lyndsi has had a rough time getting out of the country. SPOILER ALERT: At this very moment she is still in the good ol' US of A... despite having left Utah last night.

What follows is a second hand account of Lyndsi's journey to get to New Zealand.

Lyndsi's original flight was cancelled due to some confusion at the church travel office. Luckily a new flight was booked for last night which was the day she was supposed to leave anyway. Hooray! I know this made Lyndsi very happy because as you can imagine the Provo MTC was not very appealing when New Zealand was the original plan.

So last night our wonderful parents took Louie to the airport. And we were glad to find out that even though Lyndsi missed her original flight, with the other sisters, she was still traveling with another missionary. Elder Katoa. A lovely Tongan missionary who came from Arizona and is going to the Auckland Mission.  

Unfortunately the storm in SLC delayed the flight to Los Angeles. For anyone who doesn't know the Los Angeles airport, it is quite large and requires shuttles to go from one terminal to another. After landing late and running from the United terminal all the way New Zealand Air terminal  Lyndsi and Elder Katoa missed their connection to New Zealand by four minutes. And after booking a new flight they had to go back to the United terminal to receive accommodations for the night.

Once back at the United terminal they were sent to a hotel. So they rode the bus to the hotel and it turns out that the hotel was already sold out for the night and they were sent back to the airport.

Back at the airport they found that the United terminal had been closed down for the night. Luckily Lyndsi is quick witted (like her sister) and found a United employee who was the last to leave. She chased the woman down the hall to get her help in finding them a new hotel. Arrangements for a new hotel were made. Once again Lyndsi and Elder Katoa got on the bus headed to a hotel.

Being the good missionaries that they are they engaged in conversation with the bus driver and come to find out... they had gotten on the wrong bus! This meant they had to ride around the whole loop and back to the airport. After a twenty minute wait for the correct bus to come they finally got to the hotel at around 3 AM this morning.

Did I mention that their luggage had not been recovered at this point in time? That's right the luggage was a bit hung up between the two different airlines. So this morning poor Lyndsi, still in the same clothes and makeup from the day before, had to go fight with the airlines to transfer her bags without the extra cost of checking them again. (Please be advised that I am taking some liberties in this story. Obviously Lyndsi doesn't really fight with people, but for dramatic affect it seemed like the right word.)

Luckily, at our last update her luggage has been successfully recovered and her and her 2nd companion (which is our new nick name for Elder Katoa) were able to go back to the hotel and get cleaned up before leaving for New Zealand tonight at 10 PM.

Things Lyndsi has learned from this experience:  

#1- Pay phones do not exist anymore. Bring your cell phone when you leave on a mission. This way you can call your family and the church to let them know why you aren't in New Zealand yet. Luckily she did!
#2- Listen to your sister when she recommends putting a change of clothers/unders and some toiletries in your carry on in case you are separated from your luggage. She is usually right.... just saying. ha ha
#3- Sometimes Sister's and Elder's are companions. Lyndsi said that Elder Katoa keeps telling her "I bet I am the only Elder to ever have a Sister for a companion!". Poor kid is probably totally freaked out!

Please keep Lyndsi in your prayers and I will keep you posted on her mission experiences.

Love,

Nicole