Jacob 2:35

This is a really difficult post to read. Lyndsi ran into some trouble with a less active member being inappropriate towards her and her companion. Please pray for her and her companions safety. -Nicole 

Kia Ora Family!

It was so good to read your letters this week! It was a long but successful week out here on the mission. We are teaching lots of people and doing lots of service! The best story this week was probably with this little old lady named Gayle. She is 75 years old and we have talked to her a few times and has never been interested. We saw her working in her garden a couple weeks ago though and basically begged to come help. So finally this Tuesday Sister Isnard the Elders and I went over and helped her for two hours clean up her yard. After she asked us all why we would do such a crazy things such as to help clean a yard for free. We all got to bear our testimony to her and we gave her a Book of Mormon to read. We haven't been able to see her since but I hope she reads it!

We had exchanges with the Sister Training leader this week which was lots of fun and a much needed break for Sister Isnard and I. We are getting along ok but still adjusting to the different cultures. I have been praying for a lot of humility and patience this week!

We also had our first interviews with President Rudd since I have been here. It was pretty short and sweet but it was good.

I often feel as though I will never be a good enough missionary and our zone leaders act as if we make one mistake were going straight to you know where (..I think it was cause he was raised as a military brat!lol) But I think I am doing the best I can and it is just Satan hoping for me to get discouraged and fail. Which is about how I felt on Saturday.

One of our less actives this week did something that really disturbed me though.  He is in his forties is married with four kids and we have been working with their family quite a bit. They have come back to church the last couple of weeks but this week we got a surprise text from him to come meet with his less active brother so we ran over to meet with him and got a surprise when we arrived. They were both drinking and we found ourselves in a very uncomfortable situation. He kept saying this is the side of me you have never got to see, and he was being flirty and it took us about ten minutes to talk our way into getting out of there but when we went to leave he took my hand and wouldn't let go and said some stupid things. He later kept texting stupid things like "only God can judge me." I didn't say anything to him in the situation because it would have been dangerous to make them mad we were behind a house with them by ourselves, but I had a lot I wish I could have told him. But the thing that really kept running through my head was this scripture in Jacob 2:35  "Behold, ye have done greater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you. And because of the strictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds." If only he knew how much his stupid actions were hurting his wife and children at home. If he would stop being so selfish and just do the things that he knows is right and let God change and heal his heart. He may not think that his actions effect anyone but himself but I know that they hurt his family and they hurt me too. In the Proclamation to the World it says:

“… By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. …

“We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.”

 

I really do love this work and I know that no matter what Satan tries he will not be able to stop it from moving forward. It is so important to choose whose side you are on because if you have not chosen the Lords side you are automatically on the other team.

 I know that when the people we are teaching are ready for the gospel that God will make up for what we as missionaries lack as long as we try to be better and work a little bit harder every day! I love you all!

Love, Sister Miggin

New Companion and Slugs be like huge around here!

 Hola Family!

Things are really good here this week! I am still in Pukekohe but I have a new companion named Sister Isnard. She is half French and half Tahitian. She is from the little island of Bora Bora off of Tahiti. I was so comfortable with Sister Holmes that it is taking a little getting used to and there are A LOT of cultural differences but things are good. I had heard that the islanders were super laid back and man were they right! I am trying to be exactly obedient but I am mostly just learning patience for my new companion who has a very laid back attitude about everything! She was a chef at a resort in Bora Bora before she came out so I have been eating really good... I even ate tomatoes! But all our investigators are kind of freaking out! She talks a lot... not just a lot... like an abnormal amount and her English is kind of broken so she never makes a whole lot of sense. I am trying to work with her on listening a little bit but in lessons she mostly just talks about herself, her culture, her family, her entire life story to everyone we meet! I hardly get a word in edge wise and when I do she usually cuts me off mid-sentence. It’s going to be an interesting six weeks! If she is going to talk so much I really wish she would actually do language study but she thinks her English is perfect so she mostly dorks off during that time while I study. She also texts and calls all the people all the time and last night she almost picked a fight with our Sister Training Leader Sister Bird.

 

 

Most the time I figure just do the best I can and the Lord will make up the rest. And then the other half I try not to laugh because I just think she is crazy and her French accent is funny. 

 

In other news Shanti's daughter Kavita and her roommate Jessie have started taking the Lessons though! I am so excited they seem really interested! Kavita promised to come to church next week and Jessie took a Book of Mormon. Rose also took her first Book of Mormon last night! She is so funny because she is like dragging Oakley back into his own religion I just loveher! Teno seems to be doing ok this week but she has to move now because her landlord sold their house! We got a bunch of really awesome referrals this week from the ward! Three lessons scheduled in member’s homes with their referrals! I am super stoked about it go Puke 2nd, best members ever!

 

Other than that it was kind of a blah week because we had transfers. Sister Holmes had to say goodbye to everyone on Wednesday, Thursday I was in Papakura waiting for my new companion and then Friday and Saturday we mostly introduced Sister Isnard to everyone and had a few lessons. Things are great though learning and growing everyday just trying to do the Lords work!

Love and miss you!

 

Love,

Sister Miggin

 

PS Happy Birthday Patty!

 Ruta and Anna they are from Kitibati we have an English class with them every Tuesday night

Brother and Sister Aupouri the Ward Mission Leader and his wife, they are my adopted parents I love them so much!

This is the Wikaira Family! I just can't get enough of them.. They are some of the most amazing people I have ever met and I feel like they are one of the families I had to come to New Zealand to meet!

This is the last District picture before transfers

This is the Thompson family! Love them they are less active but have recently started coming to church again!

 

Heather Williams the one that lost their partner last week.

         This is Ofa one of our less active members she is wonderful! And then me with her oldest son Leka.

 

Missionaries in Puke 2nd ward

               Shanti and Kavita! I cant express how much I love these two in words they are wonderful!

Slugs be like huge around here!

TRANSFERS!!

Kia Ora Family!!

Things in New Zealand are wonderful!! I LOVE IT! I must have made it sound like transfers were last week but I won’t find out until tonight or tomorrow they are this week! Sorry! A lot happened in the ward this week though. We got all kinds of bad news but despite all the sadness around us Sister Holmes and I had a really good week!

We found out that our next door neighbor’s partner passed away. We have been reading the Book of Mormon with her and her daughter, they are members but her partner that passed away was not. His name was Kenny and he was always really nice he was a crazy Irish Catholic and he always used to tease us and call us the nuns. We have his funeral tomorrow.

Also one of the sweet sisters in the ward found out this week that she cannot have children and she confided in Sister Holmes and I. I wish there was more we could do but we had lunch with her on Saturday and she seemed to be doing a bit better.

Our investigator Teno is really, really struggling! She has been drinking again and she turned us away again. I know that she knows the church is true so hopefully she will come back around. It is so hard to love these people so much and then watch them choose a different path after they know the truth!

We have been teaching lots of people though and things have been going really good! Shanti's daughter Kavita has been sitting in on all our discussions now to and she got every Sunday off so I think she will start coming to church! I am so excited! We told Shanti yesterday that transfers were this week and we were all a crying mess together. She said the sweetest prayer before we left asking God to watch over us wherever we go, and then we were really a mess! I am still hoping to stay in this area!! It feels like home now!

Sister Wikaira who gave us those beautiful green stones had another visit with us this week. She sang Mauri songs with us and we did "Tim Tam Slams" She is so sweet and so motivated to help with the missionary work! I think she was one of my friends before this life we always have such a good time! There are so many people in this area I just can't imagine life without anymore. I had no idea my heart could be so full!

I hope all is well at home!

I love you and miss you!

Love, Sister Miggin

This is Phillip and Tonia Hadley they are a really nice recent convert family!

This is two of the Jones girls Daysha and Bri we made cookies with last Monday they are the best!!

Sister Wikaira's Kids they are the sweetest kids ever!

Green stones.

Hello Family!!

I miss you all so much and had a fantastic week! Lots of investigators and Lots of service this week! Things are crazy, crazy here, but I absolutely love Pukekohe and am dreading transfers next week! TRANSFERS...BLAHHHHH!!! I don't really have that many stories I can think of this week that I didn't take pictures of though so I will just caption my Pictures really well! I hope you all have a great week! LOVE YOU!!

Love, Sister Miggin

This week we went to one of our member’s house, Anna Howard and cleaned up heaps of spider webs! She then taught us some more Mauri and gave us some books to learn Mauri. We are going over there tomorrow to learn how to make Mauri bread for lunch to!

We went back out to Clarks Beach to meet with some investigators it is seriously just so beautiful!

 I am back to climbing trees! It was such a perfect little one I had to do it!

We had a Relief Society Activity on Wednesday. Sister Holmes and I taught about visiting teaching.

We came home and Elder Hester and Elder Otto left us secret messages on trash and pass along cards. Silly Elders, tricks are for kids

I got Nicole’s card! It made me cry!! I literally have the coolest sister in the whole world! And huge thanks to her FHE group for the words of encouragement! I really appreciate all the thought they put into it and the things that were said! It was awesome!!

The best thing of all this week was at Sister Rosalyn Wikira's house to do some service and she let us try on her Mauri ceremonial capes and look at all her Wakaama paddles. She and her husband both compete in the Wakaama boat races!

 

 

Then after Sister Wikira let us try on all of her capes, she gave us each a green stone necklace. I teared up!! In the Mauri culture, green stones are a HUGE deal! They are a sign of love and you cannot buy them for yourself. They have to be given you as a gift! They are super expensive and they have such a deep meaning that I never thought I would get one. And for a Mauri to give us one was a really heart touching thing. I still am so happy! She let us hold the two necklaces and feel which one was warmer to us. They believe that green stones choose the owner so if it doesn't feel warm to you then it is not really yours and should be gifted again. We both held them and felt the same about whose green stone was whose and Sister Wikira said that is exactly who she would have picked for each of them! Mine has the three lines through it which symbolize three baskets of knowledge. I think that it is really cool because I feel like I am learning so much here on my mission!

Those poor elders!

Kia Ora Family!

Things are still good here down under! This week was probably the best week of my entire mission so far! We have 8 new investigators this week that are all super interested! I don't really know if that is a big deal in other areas but that is about double our best so far! We had exchanges this week with our sister training leader and it was really fun! We had so many miracles this week. I will share just a few.

First was a cool family we actually met Rose first. She talked with us on the street and said that her partner used to be Mormon, and we should come over and teach him. We have run into her a couple times but had never been able to catch them home until Saturday night. We got talking with them and found out that he has all the Mormon Apps on his phone and still loves the church but that he stopped going because his son and Rose never went with him. She said to him that she would be willing to go to church with him and his eyes about bugged out of his head with joy! I have never seen such a big smile and he was like "REALLY??" I think that he is really excited to come back to church and Rose has agreed to start taking the discussions.

Second biggest miracle was Sunday the Jones family invited us over for lunch. The Jones family is one of my absolute favorite families in the whole world. Gareth the dad served in Denver, Colorado on his mission so he loves us Americans. The mom Julia is one of the Cooper family (Mosey and Ellie that let us call at their house on Christmas sister) and they have six daughters who are all gorgeous and sweet and hilarious! Daysha their oldest daughter brought her friend to church, her name is Lee. She is who we had lunch with at their house. We did a little lesson with her after lunch and taught the restoration. The spirit was so strong and then when we were done teaching Brother Jones really sincerely bore his testimony and asked her if she would take the missionary discussions with us. SHE SAID YES!! It was a really neat experience!

The third miracle is not as big and yet again another dog story. So Elder Nelson had said last week, "Angels are watching over you every day, you will recognize some of them, they are your ancestors." Well Angels were watching over Sister Bird and me on Wednesday. We went to visit one of our investigators named Yaio. When we knocked on the door the kids answered and were holding the big mean dog back that is usually out back when we come over. It was barking and growling and trying to get at us well they ran off to get their mom and the dog was let go and came over to us it just stood about a foot away and stared at us. Sister Bird leaned over to me and said "I think there is an angel standing in between us and that dog." I think she was right because when the mom came around the corner she told us Yaio wasn't home yet and then she gave us a really funny look and looked at her dog and said "Wow my dog really likes you she is never like this she usually just bites people." Lol Miracle for sure!!

Another funny story is that the members in the ward LOVE us! It is so funny because this Sunday they kept saying how much they love us in front of the Elders in the ward. Especially after we both spoke in sacrament. The Elders are really great in our ward but they live out in Waiuku so we kinda stole the members love. We wrote down five of the really funny ones....

1. This was at Bishops house for dinner. Sister Tangi was dishing up desert for the Elders who had come over as we were about to leave because they didn't have a dinner appointment and Bishop felt bad and invited them. Elder Hester "This pie is really good!" And Sister Tangi goes "Oh yeah, we only make this dessert for special occasions" And Elder Hester goes "What just for us?" And she goes "No for the Sisters." Lol We all almost died laughing Elder Hester looked so upset hahaha I think she was kidding but it was super funny!

2. Brother Wikira who was conducting sacrament and said after our talks before handing the time over to Bishop "We always see the sisters walking up and down the Bronx of New Zealand, no fear!" (No mention of the poor Elders)

3. Brother Aupouri our ward mission leader during our Missionary Council Meeting "You sisters bring the light to the dark side! We have never had missionaries so involved in our ward, I am glad we have sisters now." (People in the meeting: Brother Aupouri, Sister Holmes and I, Elder Hester and Otto.)

4. Brother Jones came up on the stand right after church while we were still sitting in front of the Elders and said "We are going to protest if they try to transfer you!...... (Turns around) Oh you to Elders...."

5. Bishop Tangi's closing remarks in Sacrament Meeting "If you are having a hard time getting into a home, USE THE SISTERS!  He spoke for five minutes about how great sisters are...."lol Elder Hester making irritated noises sitting behind us.

Anyway it was an amazing week! We can’t get enough of Pukekohe. Everywhere we turn there are friendly smiles and waves even from all the gang members. I had one of the Black Power members offer to buy me one of their gang member shirts this week. I just told him no thanks. I hope all is well at home! I love and miss you all!

Love Sister Miggin

 

Helping make a traditional Mauri meal called "boil-up"

 

A counties rugby ball signed by the whole team! Oh yep I know how to pass a rugby ball now!

Craig took a picture of us eating ice-blocks while it was raining the humid heat might kill me