Oct. 13

Hello family!

Been doing great this week, had some great lessons with people, and we have met many new people to go see and talk to. We have what's called an area book with all the names of people in our are that missionaries have taught and members and stuff, and some of it was lost and so Elder Medley found it while Elder Cunningham was on exchanges here with him, and so we have heaps of new people to go see now! It's awesome! Glad we have that, it's been slow going with our small list of names.

We are working with our investigators and families as much as we can! All we do is go see them and teach or share all we can to progress towards baptism! We have a family who the dad is so called atheist and the mom catholic, and we are working with him as much as we can to get him to believe in God, and once he does that we know that he will know that what we share is the truth and he will get baptized, and his wife ad family as well! The wife has been working on him for three years to get him to believe in God, so if we can do it, I bet she will see what we have is true and they will all be baptized! I can't wait for the day when he says yes I know this is true, I know God lives, can't wait! 

We have a family from Fiji we are working with too, they just need to come to church i think.

 

I went on an exchange up to Christchurch with the Zone leaders, I was with Elder Cottle and Elder Cunningham came here. It was super fun but crazy rain all day long! I got soaked and it was wet, not super cold, but we went hard out on door knocking. Elder Cottle barely stops to eat, sometimes he just doesn't! We had a family home evening last Monday though with one of his part member families so that was good. The lady gave us some brownies, and I went through the whole thing in two days, they were amazing! Great homemade pizza too. We met with heaps of people, and talked to many, and did tons of missionary stuff. Elder Cottle is really busy being Zone leader, and he's actually on the last week of his mission now, so he's going harder than ever! 

 The elders from Waimate came up to stay over for  the night so they wouldn't have to drive up twice for conference, there's no chapel down there and so our branch members have to drive up. It's hard for them, I talked about that in the letter too. We had good times with them, they are good hard working missionaries, but also love to have fun as well, and we had lots of that. Had some burgers for dinner, cooked up some food, good Milo (hot chocolate), it was fun. 

I love this mission, I love the people, I love everything I'm doing. I miss you guys, hope you're all doing great! Kia Kaha! (Be strong!)

Elder Passey

Here's Elder Cottle and I in Christchurch and the Waimate elders. Oh we also got our shoulder bags, they are pretty nice. 

 

Oct. 6, 2013

Dear Family,
 I got the package of candy and cookie mix you sent! thanks so much! It was so good! I haven't made the cookies yet, maybe today. It's a rainy Monday here in Timaru, so we will probable be indoors for P day. I am going on exchanges with the Zone leaders up in Christchurch tonight, I will be there till Wednesday morning with Elder Cottle, and the other one, Cunningham, will be here with Medley. I'm excited to go up there, apparently it is referred to as a "den of iniquity", and maybe some of the reason for the Earthquakes recently, but I am still excited to go! To learn from the Zone leader, awesome!
 K's are Kilometers that we are allowed to drive each month. We can go 1800 K's each month, for meetings and activities and anything else we want to use it for.

P days, we have been down to the bay, biking around town, going to the shops here, looking at everything, finding fun things to do, and a lot of relaxing. it's our wind down day after we do all our laundry and such. Yep i do like fish and chips, it's really good here, all fresh, even the store bought stuff is really good! I have no problem with having that at all! 

 We have so many great people we are meeting and teaching, and so many great experiences! I think we have a few at least who will or can be baptized in the next month or so. I will let you know when we have confirmed dates and stuff. We are working as hard as we can to find more people to teach and get baptisms in the mission! there are a couple families we are teaching right now who we really really want to get baptized! and with conference next week for us, it is delayed a week, we are going to invite them to come see living prophets speak to us! I think as long as they come for even one session, they will be able to see how much of an impact it will have on their lives and everything else, questions answered, and revelation heard. Our investigators do have many questions, and I know that conference is a place to get them answered! 

We are doing our best out here in Timaru to find and teach the gospel to all who are willing to hear. It is going to be spiritual as! (New Zealand term for like a lot, tons, heaps, sick as! hot as! etc.)

Hope you are all doing great at home! love and miss you all!

Elder Passey

Sept. 29, 2013

Dear Family,
The mission so far has been great! Recently my companion and I went to a peninsula down by the bay and it's above a rocky outcropping right by the water, we will go by when it's nice and sunny and take some pictures. It's so beautiful out here. We were door knocking the nice homes down by the bay and found a path leading out there, I love it! We had a mission wide fast this past weekend, and it was a whole day of fasting, long time for us missionaries, but it brought blessings already! At the end of our door knocking yesterday we met a lady who at first said she didn't want it and had nothing in common, but we offered service and she opened right up. We had biscuits and lemonade, and found we have the same beliefs pretty much, and at the end we had a prayer with her and she teared up and was almost crying. She was so thankful we had come around and help her out just because we wanted to. It really shows that when we do what we are supposed to, finding and helping people, we are blessed. We talked to another family we met a few weeks back, unmarried partners, but he has lots of questions and is pleased with he answers we give him. On Sundays we usually door knock some with the Elders from Waimate, Olson and Uasila'a. (Wess-la-a) We have had some good finding days with them, and teaching that family goes really well with all of us. I think they could be baptized.

Another family we are teaching from Fiji, we just recently got them a Book of Mormon in Fiji, that's what they speak at home, and they are really open to our religion even with them being Methodist. They are super nice people, and after reading with them and they are coming to FHE at Michael and Pat O'Sullivan's home tonight, we will invite them to church and later to baptism. To see these people progressing is the best thing in the world! It's why I came out here, to bring souls to Christ and meet amazing people and help them have these amazing experiences. We go finding a lot, knocking and street contacting, but we only get a few people from that usually, but those few make it worth it. We visit with members and less actives as much as we can, and request their help all the time, which they are very willing to. The members here are great, especially the O'Sullivans and the Paea's. president Paea is a great man, he'll do anything for us as long as he's available, and even then he makes himself available. I love that guy. He's a Maori, and a great one at that. I'll attach a picture of him singing at our party on Saturday night. 

A member invited us to her get together out in Temuka, and we rode over with the O'Sullivan's since we didn't have enough K's to get out there. It was a good little get together, a few non members, and much singing and getting to know people. We were fasting though and couldn't eat all the great food she had, but she gave us some to take home, so we now have real food instead of meat pies and noodles all the time! haha but we do have sandwiches and stuff too, not just meat pies, even if they are really good. 

We have been doing heaps of biking the past few days, no k's for the car. Which is good, besides that it rains a lot in the spring and it isn't super warm outside, but we manage. we biked to Tom Goldsmith's new place, which is on the far edge of town so it's a long ride, but meeting up with that guy is worth it. Tom is a great man. the angel of Timaru is what elder Medley calls him. we had fish and chips and drinks for dinner, very tasty, the best fish and chips I've ever had, maybe the first I have had besides the one time tearing down the shed. The fish here is really good, even store bought packaged stuff, it all tastes so fresh, and I'm not a fish person, but I love fish and chips now. We did some street contacting on Saturday, got told off by a couple people, which happens but not often. We had Subway for lunch because we got our blessing for the next two weeks. (paid) It was delicious! Tastes just like home. We have been doing really well, and I love it!

I know this is the Lord's work, and I can see the blessings from our obedience and even from our fast already! Missionary work is very important, and I'm glad I get to be a part of it. Love and miss you all!

Arohanui (much love)

Elder Passey

Here's some pictures from the bay and also the aviary they have at the Bay park, it's free and public and very cool. 

The Fiji family has not come yet, and we invited them to FHE with the O'Sullivan's, but they had a busy day and couldn't come.
The Kumara is pretty good grilled, but if you bake it with meat or something else, it tastes amazing! you can try whipping it after you boil it or something, they are pretty stiff, and kind of annoying to peel. Bike is all good!

yeah we have conference next week, it is downloaded and we view it at our chapel.

Love and miss you tons!

Ofa lahi atu! (love you very much!)

Elder passey

Sept. 22, 2013

Malo!

Hello in Tongan, (you learn all kinds of stuff out here)  yeah the area is nice, small town to get used to out here, pretty neat little place. Yeah the mission president is way cool, super nice people. 

 We're on the back flat upstairs, and the neighbors mangy cat keeps hanging around and coming in to our flat when we open the door so we always have to kick it out. I have a picture. it's skinny and looks sick, we've fed it a little but we don't have cat food around. 

 Yeah we have a car actually, and we bike sometimes, limited K's, but my pedal actually got stripped so we need to get a new one probably today. Food is good, you get everything out here, so expensive though. but it's good. We eat tons of bread, its cheap and delicious! Then members will feed you anything depending on where they're from. We got invited to a member family's party for the mom, the Zarria's, they're from Argentina, and they are so cool! we go over there every Friday to have food and teach them English using the Book of Mormon or other church books. Legit Argentinian food at the party, empanadas and tacos and such, so good! Even if Elder Medley and I were the only ones that spoke fluent English, it was cool.

Yes the members love to feed us, but we do have many nights where we eat at home, there aren't tons of people out here.

 I'm also trying to finish Jesus the Christ, powerful book that one, I love it. yeah and the talk from Elder Hamula was great! Apparently we have a really low number baptizing mission, and they want us to up it up a bit, it's hard though, you can't make people want to learn. It's a hard area in Timaru, but we're managing. I love hearing from you guys too! We have a lesson and service with a  potential investigator on Wednesday when I go on exchanges with Elder Bearnson, and that should be great, she seems really interested, and wants her kids to have it too. Hope it  goes well. Love and miss you! The pictures are the cat, I pet a cow at the Zarria's farm, and my new shirt from jayjay's. It's unique and aawesome!

 We invited a ton of people to church for our special sunday yesterday, and only two showed up. Disappointing, but we press on. Talked to over 170 people last week, mostly not interesteds, but we go on. I love the mission field, unlike anything else you will ever do, but great! Oh yeah, we saw this weird car up in Ashburton, and there's a store here called Cameron's!

Elder Passey

Sept.16, 2013

Kia Ora mom!

Hello in Maori. 

I love it out here! My first area is called Timaru, a branch of about 100 members, but only like 50-60 show up usually. On Sunday I think there was less. It's 2 hours south of Christchurch, and north of Dunedin if you wanna find it on a map. the temple was awesome! They only have one big endowment room, and it has an upper balcony for seating, and it's really cool. one of the older ones, but still cool. I have pictures of the area, a few at least, some of the flat and stuff. My new Companion Elder Medley is really cool. He's from Tooele and he's a great trainer. the people here are so awesome! few in numbers, but strong in spirit. the Branch president is a way cool guy, he's Maori, and really awesome. We visited with members and have been door knocking and street contacting, it's hard sometimes, many are not interested at all or just don't want to talk to us. But we press on.

 I miss camping. but a mission is so worth it. Being out here really makes it real.  Kumara is so delicious! If you can find it and cook it, just even by itself it tastes amazing! I love that stuff. We have been out door knocking and such, and met a few people who have accepted Books of Mormon and are hopefully going to be baptized this month or next, but we'll have to see. We had a family home evening with some ward members and the branch president last night, and it was really fun. the President, Paea, he can play all kinds of songs and such on the guitar, and so we sang missionary blues and rap, it was really fun. We've been hanging out with the missionaries from Ashburton up north and Waimate south, for church and zone conference yesterday. They are all really cool, and the elders from Waimate are hilarious! It's awesome.

zone conference was really great. it was long, but great. Elder Hamula from the area presidency came out and spoke for the mission tour that general authorities are doing I guess, and he gave a great talk on taking back the land one soul at a time, and not being spiritual grasshoppers. It was awesome.

 I've been trying to learn some Maori when I can, so I'm going through the Book of Mormon and the Maori one in the flat. It's called Ko Te pukapuka A Moromona. I'm trying to get it, but I'm going to need a dictionary to help me. Some of the wording isn't exact. I also know pakia-White person. It's palangi in Tongan. Wai-water. mate-dead. So Waimate is dead water, which I find funny.  Iti- small. Nui- big. Just simple things. My companion is also teaching me some Tongan, his companion before was Tongan and he picked up a lot.

I love and miss you all, I love it here though!
 Oh here's some pictures as well! Almost forgot. Here's some of the temple and after, and then me and Elder Keil, and then some amazing chocolate that I bought at Pac N Save. The food here is pretty expensive, I walked in and thought it was like Winco, but not cheap. But the chocolate here is so good. the L and P one has lemon soda infused in it and little pop rocks. It's awesome. the Black forest has cookie pieces and gummy bear bits in it, and the Turkish Delight is this really good jelly stuff. I love it.

Elder Passey

Elder Passey's MTC companion

The two redheads. They flew out together to New Zealand.

Sept. 10th, 2013

Dear Brother and Sister Passey, 
We wanted to let you know of our pleasure in welcoming your son into the mission field. We look forward to serving the Lord together in this wonderful country of New Zealand. The beauty and strength of the land and the people is evident the moment you get here. We have a mission blog if you want to look at it you will soon see pictures of your son. It is http://wellingtonnewzealandmission.blogspot.com/. We know all of your family will be blessed because of the faithful service of Elder Passey. His testimony, talents and abilities will all be enhanced as he diligently completes his missionary service. We enjoyed hearing his testimony and the excitement he has to arrive in his first area of labor. Thank you for helping him prepare so well. We told this intake of missionaries that the Spirit they carry with them and their goodness has touched our hearts. They are an outstanding group. We know we can accomplish the Lord's purposes with their help and influence. Warmest Regards, President and Sister Kezerian Wellington New Zealand Mission

Sept. 2, 2013

Dear family,

Yeah it's crazy, being a zone leader makes us very busy and it seems like president gives us a lot of last minute stuff before meetings, but it's fun. There's tons of cool people here in the MTC, and it's really awesome here! My companion is from American Samoa, his name is Elder Naidu 

We are going to the temple actually, our temple trip is on Thursday, I guess it's like an hour and a half away or something, so it's an all day thing. The food is pretty good, we had steak and potatoes one night, but the stake was too rare for me. They have this potato like food called Kumara, if you can ever find any, it's so good! It's like a sweet potato, but better. I love that stuff! We also had ribs, and those were good. The breakfasts here are kinda weird. They have beans with everything! Mushrooms, ham, you name it, if it's for breakfast, they have it. Overall not bad though. Oh, the dairy. The butter is so good! and the milk, it tastes super fresh and creamy. It takes some getting used to, but it's good. 

It's been good and I love it here.  I wanna get out and start meeting people!  We have practice investigators, played by our teachers, and they are okay. But it's not the same. They do play good roles though. Yes Alyssa, it is fun here. All of us elders mess around a lot, and we have good times. I will attach pictures of the Auckland airport, and the area around.

Love you!

Elder Passey   

Aug.28, 2013

Dear family,

Yes we did finally arrive, and I met many new people in the last day or three...I don't even know anymore. Time and days have become a blur. It was a really long flight.... You arrive at the MTC and they throw it all at you.  It begins quite quickly, and I'm getting slightly overwhelmed, but I can do it. My mission president, President Tarawhiti, has assigned me and my companion, Elder Neidu, to be zone leaders.  We are in charge of watching out for our zone and making sure zone meetings are planned and organized. There was a group of 17 of us after LA, and I hear more will arrive later on. New Zealand is so beautiful, I love this place already! The people working in the MTC are so cool, very funny, the Polynesians have a great sense of humor. I know that being a missionary will be hard, but I'm excited to start doing it all. I hope I learn some Maori or Tongan or something while I'm here, a lot of the missionaries are from here, Tonga or Samoa.

Elder Passey



New Zealand MTC



President and Sister Tarawhiti--MTC President