November 10, 2013

Dear family,

    Another week gone...wow. It really is too fast. Two years is nothing. I have figured out that you just have to work hard the whole time, and then BAM! It's over. Crazy. Otherwise, it goes slow and there was no point coming out.

I'm doing great! Just fantastic! I love this work. I love it. So much. I love New Zealand, I love the people. I love it all. We have had a busy week, full of teaching and visiting, not many new investigators as of recent, but we did invite the Fijian family to be baptized. They said no, which was disappointing, but they seem to have holes in a testimony, and they are still going to their Methodist church every week, so once we can get them coming to church I think it will help a lot! I was really sad when they said no...I love these people, and I really want their family to have this, and when they said no, I wanted to cry. We just need to help them get more of a testimony about the apostasy and how the gospel needed to be restored. I think that's the key. Once they know it needed to be restored and not just bits and pieces picked out, then they will know.

Our other investigators are...investigating. We have this Filipino guy named Shirlwell who just needs to get married!! Ahhh!! It's so frustrating when they want to get married, but in the Philippines, or with their family. Man I will plan one for you and then you can do another one later. They need to come to church as well. They're cool as! But not married,. Until then they can't get baptized. 

Anyways, we have been having some good times with the members and doing our best to keep them involved and help us out.

We do have two new investigators, one of them seems pretty keen, the other...eh, we'll see. The one keen guy is real interested in the Book of Mormon because he's never heard of it before, so I hope he finds out it's true and reads a lot. We committed 3 N 11 for them, but I told them they can read as much as they want.

Guy Fox day was Tuesday. Remember, remember the 5th of November. Lots of fireworks, but nothing huge like in the states. They have still been going on all week. But not late, New Zealand goes to bed at like 10. Weird. I had an exchange with Elder Hilton from Christchurch, he came here. He's from Demming New Mexico. Way out in the middle of nowhere, 30 miles from the border.  I forgot to get a picture with him but I'll do it if I see the Zone Leaders again soon. Guy Fox day is also the birthday of a member here, Tom Goldsmith, who we call the Angel of Timaru. He helped out with social welfare kids and all that. Wonderful old Maori guy. Love him to pieces. I'll get a picture with him sometime.

The senior couple here, the Jarvis' have two weeks left before they go home. They are really nice people, and they helped out a lot with the branch. They almost played the parents/grandparents role to us here. Flat inspections, making sure we eat, and stay clean. To me, the Paea's play a parental role, and then the O'Sullivans and Jarvis' were the grandparents. I love these people. I love them.

The family from Argentina, the Zarria's, had us over the other night for Uma's birthday, their youngest. She turned 5 I believe. Super nice people, and they love having the missionaries over. Even if it is 30 K's to drive there and back, they live out on a farm in Temuka. They are awesome, and we help teach their other friends from Argentina and Chile when they are there. Awesome people. Just awesome.

Something that us as missionaries love to do is Tim Tam Slams. We slam the Tim Tam whenever we can. You get Milo, their hot chocolate, and Tim Tam's, and then drink it and it just melts in your mouth, so good! So fattening, but delicious!! Love that. We do so many random things sometimes, I love the missionaries in my district, they're awesome.

All things good on the eastern front, the military is making sure of that. They are here from France, NZ, The US, and other places doing naval and air exercises. Way cool. We watched the Canterbury come into port the other day. Way cool. Hopefully we get to see some Hercules CS-130s. Big planes, really big.

Love and miss you all, I'm doing awesome! I also attached a picture (in Dropbox) of the green stone necklace that a Dutch guy named Gerald gave me when Elder Medley and I helped him out with service. Way cool. He carves them himself, and the guy is like 87 or something. Cool stuff. Have fun, do great things, work hard, play hard, pray hard. Arohanui!

Elder Passey