Airport Arrival

Kia Ora Whanau (Haere ra Aotearoa)

Kia Ora Whanau,

     This last week was great.  We've had 4 people accept to be baptized, 3 need parent permission which shouldn't be too hard, and 1 only needs to get married.  Its really exciting for this area, because it hasn't baptized in a while, but we should have a bit more that weekly next month :).  

     We found a 9 yr old girl whose family thought they had to talk to bishop to get her baptized, but when we had a family home evening we told them that that falls under us.  She already wants to be baptized and the family's active and everything will be quick and successful.  The other 2 only have a parent concern of not moving too fast.  But we asked them if they enjoyed the gospel, they said yes, and after our last lesson, the restoration, we asked them if they'd be baptized when they know its true.   They said YES!  

     Then we had a huge miracle way off in Taumarunui.  Our brand president rang us up and asked if we could come for church because there are 2 part member families that want to come to church and us to teach their partners.  Because of sickness only one came to church.  But his partner Sue has been investigating for over 2 years.  She already believes the gospel, so her only concern is marriage.  So they're talking about it between now and this Sunday.  Thats her only concern, but its one of the bigger ones, but they really want to have an eternal family, so that will play a big role!  

     So we've got a great week for this last week of mine.  What a way to leave with a bang :)

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

Leaving NZAM

Dear Elders,

We recognize that you are close to a very significant point in your life.  You will soon complete your service as a missionary here in the New Zealand Auckland Mission (the greatest mission in the world) and return to your home and family.  We are very grateful for your service.

The Lord has given great promises to you, and will bestow many blessings upon you as you look to your future, while continuing to centre your life upon Him and upon His restored gospel.  You have the opportunity now to prepare well for your life ahead by choosing to “seek learning” and furthering your education.

As the Lord has instructed in Doctrine & Covenants 109:7 “…seek learning, even by study, and also by faith.”  We invite you to begin to do so by visiting the website below this Monday on Preparation Day.   

https://www.ldsjobs.org/ers/ct/home.jsf    As you go to this website and open an LDS account and register on LDS Jobsyou will be given access to many resources to help you.

We encourage you to complete this process prior to the Education & Employment workshop that you will attend next Tuesday 4^th September, from 10am to 12.00noon at the Pacific Area Office.

We look forward to seeing you next Tuesday morning for breakfast in the Mission home.

Love

President and Sister Lekias

New Zealand Auckland Mission
7A Auburn Street
TAKAPUNA
NORTH SHORE CITY 0622
AUCKLAND

Kia ora 2 more weeks!

Kia ora whanau!!

     This last week was great. I really liked the zone conference. We took away that we need to fill in our days better in weekly planning, which we've done and will continue to do. The biggest updates from this week are, we picked up 3 new keen investigators, and we worked more of our branches.
     We finally had a lesson with a part member family, the Fatupaitu'a family. They have a son now living with them from Australia, and they adopted a daughter from Samoa. They've both been coming to church. I've been a bit worried that they're just going out of respect of their parents. But for mutual they're doing a Glee festival for a big stake activity, and the youth are doing a dance. And from what I've seen, they really do enjoy it. So we're going to do our best to make sure they're doing it for themselves and not just for their parents. But if they can't find the mum's records all goes right, we'll be able to baptize 3 from their family.
     Other than that we've been trying to work in our other branches. We went to Te Kuiti and I was looking for past investigators. I found out that one of my recent converts has been having a hard time, but wants to come back to church. And the best part is that she has friends that she can bring. So we'll really be working with her whenever we go down. Other than that, we've got a great ward council that are giving us lots of names to visit, and we're keeping really busy. I'm also really exited for the mission conference on Wednesday!

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

Tena Koe Aug. 13th

Kia ora whanau!!

     This last week was a bit trying. We had some good lessons set up where we were going to set a few people, but for various reasons they dodged appointments. But that doesn't mean that they're lost. So we're going to try again this week. We've got a few people that we're going to try to set this week. Ripeka, Nicole, and a referral named Peke. We also got a couple referrals from our PEC meeting this week. There's a family that just adopted a family member from Samoa, and also one of their sons moved back in with them whom we thought was a member, but they both turned out to be non members :).
      So that will be our focus this week. I feel we've done a pretty good job at finding referrals through members, now we just need to work with the ward to teach and baptize them and they'll have the best chance to come and stay!
      With that family with the 2 kids, the Fatupaitu'a family, their concern is that they don't want to push them to fast. So we've told them that we work as fast as they understand and gain a testimony. So they sounded comforted about that, but still didn't want us to really start teaching them till the 1st or 2nd week in September. But we convinced them to let us come this Thursday to let us explain about church and the things they're already a part of so that they can understand. They agreed, and hopefully this will be an earlier and better start than they were originally thinking. Of course we will follow the spirit though and not be just pushy.
     Sorry, not much time this week, we're taking turns on the chapel computer.  Love you all so much!  Praying for you, and I appreciate all of yours in my behalf!

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

Aug 6th

Kia Ora Whanau!!

     I'm happy that today's a sunny day.  Its been a rainy past couple of weeks.  But it doesn't bother me too much because I'm in a car now :)!  And better yet, I'm the driver.  Before now I've only driven a handful of times.  I'm finally used to the steering column being on the right side.  I was used to being on the left before, but now I'm used to the driver on the right side. 

     Its been pretty easy to be a district leader in this area because 1 because of a zone meeting I haven't had to lead a district meeting yet, and 2 its only our companionship and two sets of sisters, so I don't have to worry about setting up trade offs!  Last Friday we had a good little Zone meeting about trying new finding ideas.  In this mission 'zone conference' means 2-4 zones coming together with president, and 'zone meeting' means just 1 zone and sometimes has president or the ap's.  But the hard thing about the sisters here, is that their proselyting time is cut by half or more because they work at the visitors' centre.  So my challenge is to gage how hard they're working given the less time.  

     Then on Saturday we went on trade offs with the zone leaders.  I stayed in this area with Elder Smith.  As we traded off he was telling me he had chicken pox and so we should stay away from children and pregnant women.  Then in the morning he decided to call Sister Lekias before we went out, and she told him it would be better to stay in the flat and not take any risks.  So all of Saturday we stayed in the flat.  The most boring day of my mission.  

     Despite all of that we have some good potential for baptisms here.  First off there's Nicole.  She is pretty much ready to be baptized.  She's been investigating for the last 2 years, and knows its all true.  Her only concern is that she will only get baptized when she see's her husband (rm) really go back to church.  And his biggest excuse is that he plays in a Rugby league tournament.  But the final for that is this Saturday then he'll be finished for the year with games.  We're hoping that will be it, and that he'll come back.  Ripeka (9) is ready to be baptized, she was just sick all last week.  And then we just found out that a member has just adopted a 13 yr old from Samoa thats been to church twice now, and loves it.  

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

Kia ora 30 July

Kia ora whanau,

     Transfers went great.  Found out that was moving for my last one.  Any guesses?  I'm covering Te Kuiti and Taumarunui again!!!  Except I'm also covering the Ta Awamutu Ward.  I loved this area last time I was here, and I still love it now.  My new companion is Elder Hughes (Elder Huge he's 6'8)  from Sanford Colorado, and he's easy to get a long with, which was an answer to my prayers.  This will be the greatest last transfer I could have asked for. 

     Yesterday (Sunday) we went down to Taumarunui to give a talk each, and also the combined Priesthood/Relief Society training.  It went pretty well even though there were only about 6 adults and 3 youth and 3 or 4 small children.  We also took some time to set up the missionary work and coorelate with the branch president down there since its an hour and a half away. 

     Elder Hughes and Elder Hatch (who I replaced) had just cleaned out the pipeline and there are 4 investigators now.  Ripeka is the closest to baptism.  I haven't met Repeka, but from what I've heard, she's ready for baptism.  The only thing standing between her and baptism is her dad.  Elder Hughes has told me that for some reason the dad won't let us teach her without him there.  Because they were busy with sports all weekend we weren't able to see them.  But we're going to go by as soon as we can.  The good news is that they came to church.  Both her and her dad. 
     I'm excited to work in these areas again.  I know we'll have great success in covering 3 wards/branches.  We just need to get everyone on board!

     Thanks for all the Pics of Leah.  Hopefully she gets out of NICU soon.  Can't wait to see her!  Keep sending pics when you can!

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

PAINTING OF CHRIST   This will no doubt remind you of many things that you may have forgotten.  The art work and story it tells, hang on to your hat.   To have such a gift and insight as this painter would be a privilege.   The Resurrection is a 12 x 40 mural, oil on canvas. It is a depiction of the moment of Jesus emerging from the tomb.  This mural was commissioned by the Museum of Biblical Art in Dallas , Texas .  Click Here to view the video about the painting.

23rd July 2012

This week was good. We've been working on clearing our pipeline and finding new people. President Porter called it using the back-burner, meaning not visiting people very often who are still interested in us coming by, but aren't progressing very fast, and then to spend more time finding those who are ready to progress. So we picked up a couple of old investigators this week. We've also picked up a couple of non-active members who, to me, talk as if they're not members.
      We picked up one old investigator named Brandon. After being dropped he quit drugs and smoking/drinking, and split up with his partner. So that will make things so much easier to work towards baptism, especially since he was doing those things at 16 years old. He said that he'd prepare to be baptized on the 18th of August. The major foreseeable concern is that he says that God has given a vision to build his church (Assembly of God). So he doesn't fully understand about priesthood authority. But he'll get there. We're working to start teaching his family too.
      We also picked up Brandon's friend named Rico, also 16. He's pretty keen but he has some major obstacles to overcome before baptism. His biggest concern is that he has a partner thats pregnant in her 3rd trimester, and is a strong smoker. He said he wants to prepare to be baptized, but he wants to work through those problems first. 
      We're excited that Emma gets back from Rotorua this week from her b-day holiday. We talked to her once while she was down there, with permission of course :), and we know that she's ready for marriage, and also her partner. Its just trying to convince the family that the sooner they get married the sooner they can start/continue living God's plan for families. 
      We've got some good people to work with here in Manurewa, and we're working to find more.
     So we got news about transfers early.  Last Wednesday we got a call from President Lekias.  And found out that Elder Fulthorp is training in this area.  And the new training programme goes for 2 transfers.  So by the end of this he'll have been in his 1st area for 5 transfers/7 1/2 months.  Compared to me being there for 1.  So I'll be headed to my new area and new companion on Thursday, but I won't know who or where until Wednesday hopefully.  So for me that will make 9 areas and 14 companions.  Crazy eh?  

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

July 16th

   This week was a good week. A bit different with interviews with president thrown into the mix, but it was great. President remewed my temple recommend. I appreciated it especially because it expired at the end of June. We also had a huge miracle. The zone leaders in Tamaki are referring one of their investigators to be baptized this Saturday to us. His name is Donny. 
      The last few weeks have been a bit more difficult because our ward mission leader was on holiday in America. But he got back on Friday, yay! We're putting together a plan to coordinate the wards efforts in missionary work with our friend share programme. So we're hoping things will improve with the ward as a whole. 
      On Thursday we got a call from Elder Walker. He asked if we'd been praying for a miracle, we said yes, then he told us that Donny, one of his investigators, needs to be baptized in our ward. He has a girlfriend in Tamaki who was his fellowship, but he lives down here. We're pretty happy about that.
      Sadly our 2 most progressing investigators have some concerns. Aukuso, who was supposed to be baptized last Saturday, told us on Friday that he's not ready. We didn't have time to discuss it well enough. But we think that he's not willing to make the step without his mum approving. The way he explains it, is that she's happy for him to go to church, but she's 50/50 about him being baptized. He talked to her about it on Thursday and nothing's changed. We're going to commit him to be bold and tell his mum that he feels good about it and that he wants to be baptized. or something to that effect. 
     Then Emma, we found out, went down to Rotorua to be with her family for her 20th b-day. We committed her to talk to her family about the marriage, so hopefully she remembers. She said she should be back by this Sunday. 
     A bit of bad news.  Someone broke into our flat on Friday night while we were away.  We came back at 9:30 ish and everything was on the floor scattered around.  luckily not much was taken of mine.  Just my ipod, speakers, memory stick with music, and 4gb camera card full of pics () and camera cord/case.  I had a funny prompting to start carrying my camera in my pocket the last couple days so I still have that.  But I really miss the pictures!  Luckily they also left the gifts that I'm bringing home too.  I'm still safe (don't worry mum), and I'm happy that my treasure is in heaven and not in little things like ipods and such.  
     P.S. Transfers is a week from Thursday.

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

From the President

Dear Elder and Sisters, July is our month (We do not want to be grasshoppers!!)

July is promising to be a very good month IF we continue to do our part.  We are so very close in reaching our monthly goal of 167...BUT, there is much for us to do.

As of last night our accountability is:  68 accomplished with a further 143 set...which is projected at 211.  This is fantastic Elders and Sisters, however we all know that we have been at this level before.  WE NEED TO HOLD OUR SETS WITH ALL OUR MIGHT, MIND AND STRENGTH!

The QUESTION is:   What are we prepared to do to see that we HOLD onto the sets we have remaining for JULY?

Our prayer is that your ANSWER will be:

·         A focus on item 2, page 147---set goals and make plans for investigators to be baptized;

·         Prayer and Exact Obedience so Heavenly Father can bless us;

·         Ask the zone leaders for help if you are having trouble holding onto your sets;

·         Use the members as much as possible;

·         Make sure the Ward Leaders are aware of the Baptism; and finally

·         Plan the baptism so well that new investigators will be found as a result (at the baptismal service for example).

With all this in mind for July, we need to continue the focus on Finding and Teaching so we get a great start in August.  Remember..in the NZAM we no longer get "Transfer Trunky"....do not get DISTRACTED with thoughts of...I wonder if I am moving, where will I go, who will be my companion...it does not matter.  The Lord has it all in hand..He will watch over you.

We love and appreciate all you continue to do.  Have a fantastic week...and Remember....You can DO IT, you are a Disciple of Christ!!

Love

President and Sister Lekias

July 9th 2012

Kia ora whanau!

     This week was a more difficult week to keep up with what we've been achieving mostly because we didn't have our bikes.  On Tuesday the zone leaders took Elder Fulthorp's bike in to get it fixed.  Hopefully we'll get it back today.  Other than that we have a marriage on Tuesday, a baptism coming up this weekend, and another baptism the next week.  
     Walking this week slowed things down a lot.  It took up way too much time.  We would go from one appointment to another just to find out they're not home.  We tried to see all the people we knew in between places, but the most we'd get is a return appointment.  
     We were able to see some good progress from our investigators though.  Aukuso finally opened up to us and told us that his concern is that he wants his family (Mum) to support him.  He said he's 18 and can make his own decision, but he still wants to respect his Mum.  We've committed him to have a real good sit down talk with her about what he's doing and how he wants her blessing when he gets baptized.  It shouldn't be a big problem or something that will hold him back, but we're definitely going to do all we can to help him make the right decision to get baptized as soon as possible.  
     On Sunday evening at our last visit we had a new set.  It was Emma that we found about 2 weeks ago.  When we met her she was pregnant and due any day.  And she did.  So after a couple of week she finally back from the hospital and ready to have us come visit.  So we went and had a good talk with her less active partner Jeff and found out that he is ready to get married whenever.  He's following what we asked him to do and gave up drinking, and its now been two days since his last cigarette.  After a little while Emma came in and we asked her how she felt about things, and she said she's ready any time.  So after some talk we set them for marriage and Emma for baptism both on the 21st of July.  They both said yes, and they committed to pray as a couple about it too.  
     I'm excited to see so many people finally making the decision to live the commandments and receive the blessings.  We also saw a recent convert from last year (Elder Killingbeck) go to the temple and get sealed as a family.  Time is sure flying by fast.  Weeks do feel like days, and the days sometimes like weeks.  The nights go by in about 5 minutes and another day starts.  I'm truly blessed to be in a part of the world where the work is moving so fast.  Most areas I hear about a new ward, or a chapel extension, or the stake is going to split.  The people are so good and treat missionaries very well, always making sure we're never hungry, that we have enough blankets, and letting us pretty much be part of their families.  I love the gospel!  Its true, and without it there's no promises.  

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

July 2nd

Kia ora whanau!

 

     This week had so many things happening. To start off we got a new investigator from a family home evening, then we heard that one of our recent converts ran away from home, then on Friday Deja calls us up and says "can I get baptized tomorrow?", Saturday morning we also hear that one of the memers of rowandale ward passed away as part of a home invasion or something. With all of that we had great success this week.
      After the family home evening we were talking with someone who we thought was a part of the familiy and he said his name was Aukuso, and that he was investigating the church. We asked him if had missionaries coming by, and he said no, and that he's just been coming to church and loves it. He said that at his church he doesn't have a relationship with God, but since he's been coming here he's felt better than he's ever been. So we set him for the 14th of July. He just has to ask his mum. He said that she's already happy that he's going to church anyways, so we're praying and expecting a good answer from him.
      Friday morning just as we were ending weekly planning Deja rang us up and asked if she could get baptized the next day. We said we'd work it out, and everything went through well.
So now we'll be working with Aukuso, Michael, Laeton and Tyrese for this month. So with Deja, that will make 5 for this month. It feels great seeing so many people working towards and being baptized.

 

Deja w/ Dream (nearly 2)

Elder Fulthorp, and yours truly

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

Travel Itinerary

Arriving at Salt Lake City Airport, Tuesday, September 4th, 2012, 7:41pm

Interesting Fact: Because the time zone change, Elder Sorensen will arrive in SLC 26 minutes later than he departed NZ.

Mon, June 25th 2012

Kia ora!

 

     This week was great.  We had a baptism.  It was a lot of work, but it went through!  We also have a solid new set, and a solid new investigator we're hoping to set tomorrow. 
     Katie was a bit of a struggle to see if she was ready for baptism.  Mostly because she's so shy.  We just kept trying and trying to connect with her and help her to open up, and little by little she did.  I think a big reason was because of her nan.  She really wanted to be a part of every lesson and always know what was going on, and she also couldn't hear very well.  It was a bit of a hinderance, because Katie wouldn't open up when she was around, but I can understand why she wanted to be around.  Well we considered if she was prepared to be baptized this week or if she needed more preparation, but we felt that she was ready this week.  And it all came together well.  We're definitely going to be working with her a lot still, but we're really happy she did get baptized. 
     We also set Deja Masters for marraige and baptism for the 14th July.  Before she was planning on getting married in September.  But we talked about the law of chastity, and that it was important to live it as soon as she can.  She considered how ready she actually was, and we suggested the 14th, and she accepted.  We're pretty blessed because her partner is a less-active elder coming back, and he's been ready for marraige for a while now.  He's also trying to sort himself out so he can baptize Deja.  That would be a huge blessing.
     On Wed. we took a member out to a lesson which fell though.  She took us to her house and we thought to make it a friend share.  When we asked if we could share a message with the family she got her brother and his non member partner, who has been investigating for like 2 years on and off.  We got talking and found out that she loves coming to church, she's ready to be married, and she's pregnant and due any day.  Our next lesson will be talking about their family and how this will bless them and hopefully showing how sooner will be better than later.

 

-A few members from my last area found out where I stay and came and wished me a happy birthday

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

June 18th

Kia ora koutou kotoa!

 

     So transfers was on thursday, and the result was I shifted, and Elder Lee stayed.  My new companion is Elder Fulthorp from the outskirts of Sydney Australia.  I'll get a picture of us some time, but as you probably know, time is really short during the day. 

     This area is a bit of a change, so I'm still trying to get used to it.  I love that we have 4 set right now, so we've reached the standard.  We just need to keep it and set more.  I've met most of our investigators and they seem pretty good.  And we also shared our training yesterday at church.  It was smooth and spiritual, which is what we were going for.
     The people in this area seem a lot more polar.  Either really keen, or pretty rude.  I'm happy its still the same work though.  One awesome experience was my first night here.  We had a second lesson with an investigator named Bohinya.  We were talking on her doorstep, and I was trying to get to know her.  Elder Fulthorp had told me a little bit about her niece passing away recently, and so when she said that to me I asked her a little bit about it, introduced the plan of salvation, and she said she had a lot of questions that nobody has answered for her in the past.  I promised her answers as she listened to what we shared about it.  She was honest, she had lots of questions, but at the end of the lesson, she told us that we answered a lot of questions that nobody else would.  So we invited her to be baptized, and she accepted!  She's really happy about it too!  She's preparing for the 7th July.
     Then on Sunday we had the combined Relief Society/Priesthood lesson.  I wished I had more time to learn how to work with Elder Fulthorp better, but we did pretty well.  My favorite part was the role play.  We invited Sister Solomon to come role play with us and she did a perfect job.  She even committed to inviting her sister (non member) this week to a family home evening.  It was the role play, but she's really going to do it.  Bishop Turner closed with his testimony and shared how he was going to invite his nieces to hear the gospel.  It turned out really well.
     Funny Story.  Pulling out of our flat Saturday after dinner (sunset) and we went not even 5 meters, and a policeman pulls up and tells us to come over.  He inspects my bike (only a headlight)  and tells me I need to have a headlight/tail light and reflectors.  I thought I was going to have to go buy them, but he goes to the car and gives me a pair of lights (probably around $60) tells me to put it on, and then leaves.  Kinda scary, but I'm happy to have them and use them.

     Ps.  If anyone wants to see where I stay I'm in Manurewa, Rowandale ward, and I stay on Browns road right next to the netball courts.  And yes, I'm still on bikes.

Otara District + mission vision

Pange, E. Lee, me

Pekepo Family (Tepaeru, Arona, Maara, E.Lee, Me, Alisha, Cheyenne)

 

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

Pps (I got the package, thanks family!!)

June 11th + Transfers

Kia ora!

     Before I forget, transfers are this week.  So I'll let you know what happens next week.  Its pretty fun being the district leader who gets the calls about who's going where.  I think I'll probably get shifted for my last 2 transfers.  I'm thinking maybe down to Gisborne, or Manurewa/Papakura.  Not too much happening this week sadly.  We were supposed to have a baptism, but because Siaosi didn't come to church he doesn't qualify till the 23rd.  

     This week was pretty good.  We started off really good, but things started falling through towards the end of the week.  I feel we're doing a lot better eliminating missionary error, but I know we still have work we can do.  We made progress with pretty much all of our investigators, and got a really keen new investigator.  

     I'd say a few of our biggest concerns are getting our members involved in the teaching process, and our investigators dropping lessons.  We're using a new idea for getting members to lessons.  We made a calendar and had the members sign up on a day they would open their homes for us to bring and teach investigators at their house.  So we're going to see how this goes.  

     We had a keen new investigator this week named Siaosi.  He referred himself through the office wanting to know how to "become Mormon."  He's been to church twice already and has started to quit smoking and drinking.  So we taught him, gave him a plan and set him for baptism on the 16th.  But for some reason he didn't come to church, and so we're going to have to reset him for the 23rd.  

     So thats our plan for this week, getting our investigators to members homes, and having them invite them to 

church and other things.

Eat, drink, and [be merry, for tomorrow we die]

A member brought us roast duck for dinner...not my favourite.

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

June 4th

Kia ora katoa,

     Not too much happening this week.  so it was a bit disappointing in the end.  I do feel really good about how many member present lesson we had.  Especailly because of the progress it brought to our investigators.  And we hope to carry that through this next week and now on.  Sadly Ana didn't give us the answer we expected, but thanks to brother Traill she was willing to keep learning until she musters up the courage to commit.  

     We did have a great week set up with heaps of appointments with potential investigators.  But for various reasons.  A few of them did remember and gave us a note to apologize which I think shows their commitment level, so we're definitely going to try back this week.

     We also started teaching a new investigator from last week that stays in another area, but his fellowship, and how we found him, is through his family in our ward.  We invited him to be baptized, and he agreed, but because he didn't come to church so he's not set any more.  But he's still keen to prepare.  As soon as he's a solid investigator, we're going to refer him over to Johnstone so that they can resolve his family concern.  

     Other good news is that Fa'apoi finally got confirmed on Sunday after 3 weeks.  Such a relief.  That will also help us achieve our goal of baptizing weekly this month.

looks like a hurricane on a sunny day

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

May 28th

Kia ora Whanau!! 

     This last week was pretty good weather-wise.  Only a couple of really cold mornings.  On Wednesday Elder Lee and I could see our breath in the flat.  Too bad NZ doesn't have central heating.  Stayed pretty dry this week for the most part too.  

     This past week was a really good week.  Full of faith and success to follow.  We had a commitment from the zone leaders to pray with faith before and after every lesson, even if it fell through.  Because we did that we had a miracle this week.  We also got some good news from an investigator named Ana.  And a second miracle is that the zone leaders had some spare parts, so I was able to fix my bike to preserve my safety.  

     On Wednesday  we had a miracle.  We were working on one of the lists we got from the clerk.  We were trying to find men who have not served missions.  We went by a house, and no one answered the door.  We were about to leave when we heard something from the garage, so we decided to knock.  He said he'd come to the door.  Found he's a members brother staying with them because he'd just lost his job in Wellington.  To cut a long story short, we found out that he was baptized in 1975, but his family wouldn't let him get confirmed.  So we set him for that weekend.  Sadly something came up where he had to go take care of a sick brother for the weekend, and we couldn't find a way to  have him come to be baptized, but he's still just as keen.  So we'll reset him for this weekend.

     We also had some good news from our investigator named Ana.  We asked inspired questions in a conversational way, and found out that her real concern isn't that she hasn't got an answer, but that she was scared to change religions.  So we committed her to pray and ask for the confidence to follow what the Lord wanted for her (or something to that effect).  And we stopped by Thursday to follow up, but she said she'll tell us what happened on Monday (today).  So we feel good that she got her answer and that we'll set her for baptism tonight.  

      A couple of funny stories.  One day we had a random german shepherd follow us around for like 2 hours.  Also fixed my bike so I have front brakes again.

Arohanui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

Tamaki, Manurewa/Papakura, Panmure/Waterview Zone Conference Photo

Dear Elders and Sisters,

What a blessing it has been to attend Zone Conference with you and a General Authority.  Elder and Sister Hamula taught many great and important truths that, if acted upon, will bless each and every one of us and the great NZAM.  Among the many great insights was his illustration on the four aspects of Faith.  As we learn and understand the (1) Doctrine---really study and ponder the eternal truths of the great Plan of Salvation, our (2) Hope in the Saviour increases.  As our Hope develops we are more prone to (3) Act on those things that will strengthen and develop our(4) Personal Witness of the very Doctrine we are seeking to understand.  As we continue on this Faith cycle—our Hope changes to Confidence, then to Assurance and over time—line upon line----we no longer Hope but are Certain in that thing we were initially seeking answers to.

This Faith cycle is a ‘Pearl of Great Price’ and if understood will guide you throughout your mission and beyond.  There will be no desire to be disobedient, there will be no home sickness or lack of urgency for the work.  On the contrary, your eye will be single to the glory of God and His great work to bring to pass the Immortality and Eternal Life of Man.  Our prayer is that each of you will “ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, if these things are true”…but remember… “ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ”….

We were also taught from a wonderful role play that we are the Physicians (doctors) and our role is to find the concern of the soul and prescribe the right Medicine (doctrine).  To prescribe the right medicine, we need to know what is available.  In other words—we have a responsibility as servants of the Lord to know the will and mind of the Lord.  We find this out by daily study.  We cannot afford to sleep in, miss our personal and companionship study if those who are ‘sick’ are relying on us to deliver the ‘medicine’ to heal their souls.  Elders and Sisters, we invite each of you to study from PMG and the scriptures daily and then ACT (that means being up every morning at 6:30am, and being ready-dressed in your proselyting clothes—for your study commencing 8:00am).  Ask questions of your companion, role play together and if you have not been using time wisely—then repent and move forward—and commence studying the Gospel like you have never studied before—Will you do it?

We were also reminded about self motivation—How we can be the best missionary we can every day of the mission.  Elder Hamula used Hebrews chpt 11 and chpt 12: 1-3.  He then reminded us in all that we do—keep our eye fixed on Jesus Christ.  If we do that we will never lose our motivation.

We want to close this email by referring to Numbers 13:17-21 and 25-33, then Chpt 14:1-9,22-24.  You will remember Elder Hamula sharing this experience with us.  In verse 33 we read… “and there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight”. 

In other words—if we think we are grasshoppers then those we associate with will think we are grasshoppers—and eat us up!!.  How does that apply to us Elders and Sisters?  If we think we cannot achieve 167 souls saved each month---then we won’t.  If we think our investigators won’t commit to baptism or come to Church, then they won’t.  We need to BELIEVE!!!!------do you Believe Elders and Sisters…???  We can do this, we have the Lord on our side.

With all this in mind we reminder each of you how we can take this the great NZAM to the next level..It will be by doing the following:

1.      Focus on Finding in all that you do..Find more people to teach---use the members, Ward Clerks (MLS reports like:  prospective Elders, 9 year old or older unbaptised, part-member families);

2.      Commit more often and earlier.  In other words----Act, then allow the Spirit to do the rest.  The invitation is to commit our investigators to baptism in the 1^st lesson and if not the first at least by the second.

---Remember what you all said to Elder Hamula?   It Shall Be Done!

Elders and Sisters, we know that as you commit to the two invitations above, the Lord will bless you with power and in a real way be even like Nephi of old who was made “mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works” (see Helaman 10:5).  We love you and want you to know how proud we are of all that you are doing.  Keep up the great work, love each other, serve each other.  Love the members and help ‘establish’ the great cause of Zion here in the land of New Zealand.  May the Lord bless you all and keep you safe, happy, obedient and busy doing His work, is our prayer.

Love

President and Sister Lekias