Kia Ora,
Its been a quiet week in Lake Wobegone (applause). Actually its been pretty eventful. Last Monday biking home from some other Elder's flat we got hailed on from on big black cloud. Everywhere else in the sky was blue so it totally took me off guard. That night it was freezing cold, the houses/flats here aren't insulated, and we left a few windows open. It was a cold night. Tuesday morning I really didn't want to get out of bed because it was so cold. When I went to take a shower the hot water made it steam up like a sauna! When I opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom it felt like when you see in movies a god or something with a light behind them and the clouds and wind rushing past them. I felt pretty cool hahaha. It was also really windy and exhausting to bike straight into the head wind. Thursday was rainy all day! Especially before dinner I was just soaked through, except for my torso and feet. And it rained pretty much the rest of the day.
So on Saturday (well I left Friday night) I had a trade off with Elder Rezel my zone leader. It was such an amazing day! I really saw how I wanted to be when I really get the hang of being a missionary. We avoided arguing and actually had a good talk with some people who don't believe in organized religion. They basically believed everything we do, except for modern-day prophets and apostles, and organized religion. We let them know our purpose, to pray and ask if these things were true, and that we leave it up to them, and left it at that. We had a couple really good lessons that were really spirit filled, and that day was just really amazing. It really gave me a vision and a goal of where I want to be as a missionary. We also got a few kids set with a baptismal date, whom Elders have been trying to get permission for a very long time. So that was a pretty big miracle. And while I was in the ZL's area, Elder Eckery and Elder Burr were able to set Mike back in my area.
So one of our new investigators is named Rohammad. He is an Indo-Fijian, and I would say he's about 6' 7" or something like that. He says he's Muslim, but he likes listening to other peoples religions and talking about God. So while we were in there (all this time I had my backpack between my legs on the floor) I pulled out my scriptures, and held them between my legs as I was introducing the scripture I was going to read. He stopped me and just started telling me off about not having my 'holy book' between my legs, and that if I want to talk to him about religion I have to 'respect the book, and then you'll respect the religion' and 'once you learn respect then you can preach to me.' Oh yeah he said "if that were my book, oh I don't know what I'd do to you." I was speechless. I just said sorry, and I'll respect it from now on, and went on teaching him for a little bit before he went off to work. When Elder Eckery and I went off we couldn't help but laugh about being told off by this huge Fijian guy.
Later that day we saw an older lady spraying something with a hose on her lawn, and we thought "hey, she looks nice. Let's go talk to her." When we got over there we said hi and she said "Don't even think about it!!" We asked if she had heard what we share, and she yelled "Just GO AWAY!!" We said okay, and have a nice day, and she said in an angry voice "you too". After we were out of sight and sound of her Elder Eckery said that he usually wouldn't leave it at that, but she had a hose. We just cracked up laughing!
So on Saturday during dinner (trade of with my ZL) we got a call that a couple of missionaries in our zone were being held hostage. When I first heard this I was like WHAT? As the details slowly came in this guy was very violant and was just throwing fits, so the missionaries would calm him down. Then he would get upset again. And this went on for 4 hours. They said they're a bit shaken up but they made it out fine that night.
So I forgot my camera this week, so no pictures, but I'll send my memory card home soon.
A little bit more about NZ. One of the ward members whose lived in the states for a while said about the food, that Mexican food is to the US as Indian food is to NZ. So I've had a couple of curry's. I haven't had anything real different yet. I got to eat an oyster in lemon juice. DISGUSTING! I bit down once, just about threw up, but ended up swallowing it whole. Like you said, its a lot like home except for the trees and the countryside outside of the city. My area, Dinsdale ward, is one of the smallest in the mission. So Elder Eckery who has been here for 3 months, has pretty much knocked every house. So we try to visit members investigators and contact on the street as much as possible.
A random thing you could put in the next package; a little thermometer. I would like to know what the temperature is so I can tell you how humid it is relative to the temperature, and so I can know what other people are talking about when they say temperatures.
Ka Kite!
Sincerely,
Elder Sorensen
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