3 Months Til Christmas

Oh heyyy!!

So tomorrow marks 2 months since I went into the MTC. CRAZY!! I felt like I was hardly in the MTC, but at the same time, it felt like it was 2 months. & now I've been in NZ longer than I Was in the MTC. So weird. The mission does crizazy thing to time.

So this past week was a good week. We went to the temple on THursday and it was awesome! Ahhh! I love it! It was awesome to see it as we were driving up because it's on a hill and out in the country and there's just this huge white building that pops into view. 3 of the 4 sisters at the VC right now came from Tauranga, so I hope that the tradition continues and I get to make my way over to Hamilton after I'm done here in Tauranga. I've already gotten the confirmation that I'm supposed to be here on a mission, but being at the temple just reaffirmed that. I feel so incredibly thankful to be able to serve the Lord at this time and to be a part of his work. & most importantly that He saw me worthy to represent the church and my Savior Jesus Christ. It truly is an honor each and everyday! & I was thinking how I really can't see myself doing anything else at this time. Even if I were at BYU, I don't know what I would be doing. & that definitely confirmed to me that this is where I am supposed to be. & I love it! & I am so incredibly thankful to have Sis Perry as my trainer. She has helped me out so much and is just the best. I think Heavenly Father knew I needed her specifically to help me get started on the right foot and that I probably wouldn't have lasted if I had a crazy trainer. & I am so thankful for the new training program. We get to study 2 hrs every day as a companionship and get to watch lots of PMG videos to show us examples and it gives the new missionary specific goals for each week and it's amazing how everything we've been studying has applied to what we were doing that week! The training program truly is inspired! And so is PMG. I know that the lessons are in a certain order and within each lesson follow a certain order because that's how it makes most sense to the investigators and it also follows the questions that people naturally have as they learn more about the gospel. It's great. Also since we were at the temple, we had a little temple conference with our zone and heard from Pres & Sis Lekias and it was so good! I love them both so much and am so thankful to be working with them. They also came to our district meeting friday since they were down in our area and so we got them 2 days in a row and I loved it. I know that Pres Lekias is inspired and receives direction specifically for our mission and I am so thankful for what he's doing with our mission and to have him here! I wish I could see them more often then maybe once a month.

So I decided after being on a mission, I have no reason to ever feel awkward because I do lots of awkward things right now. Like pulling over and getting out of the car to approach people. Or the other day, we were on our way to a lesson, but were coming up to a couple walking down the street. So Sis. Perry pulled over and I got out, but they were pretty far ahead, so I was on the verge of running after this couple to talk to them. Sadly they didn't want to hear anymore, but then as we were walking back to the car, this guy that was walking down the street started crossing the street, so we crossed it too, and started walking the direction he just came from (clearly he didn't want to talk to us) but kept walking with him and talked to him for a bit anyway. We also pulled over and I went to talk to a guy working in his front yard, and when I told him I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and talked about how we can live with our families for ever, he told me, "Just Get Lost", haha, I thought that was pretty funny, & then he mumbled something & I think it had to do with doing something productive with my time. Little does he know.

Speaking of church yesterday, I had about 2 minutes notice that I was teaching gospel principles. My comp went to primary b/c we had lots of investigators with kids at church yesterday, and this lady in the ward is quite bold and has no fear heard Sis Perry telling me that as she was walking by and she grabbed the GP book out of my hand & said, "Come on Sister Mullen, I'll teach it with you." Thank goodness for her! It would have been a LONG lesson if she didn't come help me. She can be kind of intimidating, but I love her so much! Haha.

Oh, so we had Daylight Savings this weekend, so now I think I'm 19 hrs ahead of MST. And speaking of being ahead of y'all, we don't get the Relief Society Broadcast til next week, which also means we don't get General Conference til the next week. & I can't wait for it! But some verses I came across this week that I especially loved were Alma 7:22-24. And it talks about our duty to God & the things we need to do here on earth like be humble, submissive, full of patience, long suffering, being dilligent in keeping the commandments. And I love love love v. 24 where it says "And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always about in good works." After reading the talk on hope from the priesthood session in April, I've being to see how closely related faith, hope and charity are, and if we have all of those in our lives, that we will be happy and have that desire to keep the commandments and endure to the end! I love it! I love the scriptures! I love reading Conference talks! This weekend, I've really begun to see the blessings that come to us as we are obedient and active in the gospel. The scriptures are full of things that will bring us true happiness here on earth and happiness we can't even comprehend in the next life! I love the gospel and am so thankful to be sharing it with so many people right now! Love you all, hope all my brothers are still alive. I know Mike is, I hear about him in Mom & Dad's letters. Love you!

Love, Ally

...yeah, that's still my name. Even though it's starting to sound weird now.

PS the first picture is of a view by one of our member's houses. Gorgeous. The other two are obviously at the temple.
PPS We're taking our investigators to the VC this Saturday and I can't wait!!

It's Never Too Early For Christmas Music

Kia Ora! ...I actually hardly hear anyone say that, probably because there are so many white people where we are right now.

Let's see, what happened this week? Oh, so we had a very interesting feed last week with a sister in our ward. She lives out in the boonies and has all sorts of chickens, sheep and cows. We think we might have had lamb b/c it definitely wasn't chicken or beef, I thought it was pork, but then after we got home Sis Perry asked me if I knew what it was, and she thought it was lamb b/c she started telling us about the lamb she had a while ago. If it was...it didn't taste any different. She was telling us when we bring our families back to NZ to show off where we served, to bring them to stay at Auntie Dulcie's! haha, I don't think that will be happening...unless anyone is dying to have the experience to sleep on the same mattress where her hens lay their eggs.

We might have started listening to Christmas music already...it's just so good! Why not listen to it for 6 months of the year? Why didn't I think of this before I came on a mission? Thankfully Sis Perry and I have the same feelings about Christmas music. Sis Perry also told me how she feels like she has to translate for me a lot...which is so true. Kinda funny how there is still a pretty serious language barrier even though they're speaking English. We had an appt with one guy, but we couldn't find a female member to come with us, so we rescheduled, but we were walking away and I said, "So what's going on with him...I'm so confused!" & we met with this recent convert who hasn't been to church in a while, turns out she just always needs a ride, and she's quite the talker, and I was SOOOO confused almost the whole conversation b/c she wasn't using all sorts of words I didn't know what they meant and I just couldn't understand her sometimes. She's Maori, but still from New Zealand and English was her first language, haha. It's also funny teaching people here or even the missionaries who are from NZ or Australia don't know where certain states are that are big in church history like Ohio or Missouri. Or one of our investigators was saying he thinks he's heard of the Mississippi River, & I was thinking, "uhh...who hasn't?" I also asked him how tall he was and he told me 180 cm...it never occurred to me that they don't measure height in feet. The only reference I have to how tall 180 cm might be is that my snowboard is 154 cm...I think. I also never thought that they wouldn't measure in calories here, it's kilo-Joules. So who knows how bad all these chocolate bars are for me, haha.

I forgot to mention that the Rugby world cup started last week and it is a BIG deal here. We were in Katikati the night of the opening ceremony, and there were lines of cars driving down the street and people walking too carrying Tongan flags and flags all over the cars blasting music. Like probably well over 50 people involved this little parade, it was awesome. I wish I could watch part of the games. We keep getting the updates from everyone.

We did have one cool story this week: we had 2 appts right after church in Katikati, but they fell through, so we went to go visit a part member family, the husband is the non member. And we got there right after he left for work, and the wife was on the phone, so we started talking to this guy on the couch and he's a friend of the member & was over to watch Samoa play in the rugby world cup, and he is so ready for the gospel! It was neat to see his heart soften as we kept talking to him. He asked if he had a book and our contact info incase his friends were interested b/c he's heard this before, but by the end of the conversation, it was all definitely for him. He was saying how he's confused because there are so many churches and just doesn't know what to believe and is ready to make some changes b/c he was in prison a while back. He's so ready, so hopefully he'll let us come visit him more.

So I was studying about the Atonement this week and I just wish I knew so much more! I love Alma 7:11-12  because it talks about how Christ suffered so that He would know how to succor His people and that thought gives me so much comfort. I know that Christ choose to suffer in the Garden of Gethsemane so that he would know how we all felt when we're having a hard time. He could have found it out by revelation, but he chose to find out through experience and that is probably one of my favorite parts of the Atonement. It gives me so much comfort to know that Christ knows exactly what I"m going through and what I need the most when I just have no drive to carry on. I am so incredibly thankful for my Savior and all the wonderful blessings we receive from the Atonement and all that He suffered for each and everyone of us! Love you all and hope things are going well!

Love, Sis Mullen

PS No cool pics from this week, we are severely limited on p-day activities since we are so limited on our km per month, so here are some more pics from Mt. Maunganui.

I Don't Like Being Cold

Hello, hello! Well, no exciting food stories to tell about this week. But we did pass out a meal roster, so we're going to be fed more, and I'm sure I'll have stories next week. I'm so scared! haha, This lady in our ward who is feeding us Tuesday called to see what we do and don't like, and when she asked about fish, I told her I had never had fish before, thank goodness, b/c she said she had a ton of oysters and was going to see if we wanted them...I am so incredibly thankful she called us! I have been so incredibly blessed with our feeding situation here.

 

So our most exciting news this week was that we had our first baptism! Her name is Carrie and we met her our first sunday here and she had already been to church 3 times, so it just a matter of teaching her everything before she could get baptized. She's in the Katikati Branch, so we had to drive out there friday w/ the elders for her baptismal interview and she was SO excited afterwards and it made me so ridiculously excited! She really is amazing. She's 27 and has been smoking since she was 8 years old and quit within a week! The sunday before her baptism, that was her big concern that she woulnd't be able to stop smoking by her baptism, but she was done on Wednesday! It's amazing what is possible with the Lord's help. And the other super awesome thing about her baptism was that it happened in a river! Boo yay! (that's the last pic I attached). Not cool that it was the first day since I've been here that it rained and it POURED. It was SO cold & windy, but a day she'll never forget! haha, it was so exciting to have baptism in a river! They are using an old Catholic church for their church building, so they don't have a baptismal font. The Branch Pres said next time we'll just do it in the ocean b/c the river was pretty low. But yeah, it was so exciting!

 

So yesterday in Sac Mtg in the Otumoetai ward, every 2nd Sunday is missionary Sunday (it's a pretty small ward...because about 2/3 are less active. No bueno) So we got 2 recent converts to speak and went Saturday to help them figure out waht to say, the wife was pretty nervous, the husband seemed nervous at first, but then it came out that he LOVES To talk (which he does) so I was planning on giving like a 2 min talk b/c I figured he would take up a ton of time, but they didn't show up til right after the Sacrament, so I guess Bishop decided to not have them talk at all, so I had about 10 min to prepare a 10 min talk...and it was pretty bad, haha. I decided to just tell the story of Ammon and King Lamoni, but I got the details of King Lamoni mixed up with Lamoni's father. Uh, yeah, embarassing! bahaha, hopefully no one really noticed, and if they did, I'm sure they were just thinking, "Oh, this poor greenie." Let's just say I have TONS of room to improve on my improv talks, haha. & the funny thing is, I was looking for the scritpures of how King Lamoni said that he asked what he needed to do so that he could know God better and I couldn't find it in that chapter! Uhh, I should have realized then that that's because he didn't say that! Whoops. No worries, I'm pretty sure it won't be long before I have the chance to get up and make a fool of myself again, haha. Oh, like next week when we both have to give 20 min talk on the Law of Chastity. Thanks for your help...oh wait. My goodness, I have no idea how this is going to go down. I hate having our resources so limited as missionaries.

 

So last week we hiked Mount Manganui and it was AMAZING! I couldn't get over how pretty it was. You've got the city right there, this mountain COVERED in trees, the ocean going forever in the other direction, miles and miles and miles of coast. It was so pretty. I attached some pictures, but I know they still won't do it justice. And the weather was so nice too. Good thing we did it last week b/c it's quite cold today. I hate the cold. I was telling Sis. Perry how I can't wait for summer and she said, "You just came from summer." Yeah...I know...I love summer. I'm pretty scared for winters here. Sounds like it rains a ton...and I can't wait to ride my bike in the rain. My goodness, I will be dead when I have to start riding a bike!

 

Funny note, people here seem to have SUCH a hard time saying Mullen. Everyone always has to see my nametag after I say my name. Sister Perry said it's because they don't really use L's in Tongan and Samoan, so it's just a weird sound. I never thought my name was that hard to say, haha.

 

So now we're just working on finding new investigators, and it's hard. Members aren't too much help and we have a TON of less actives. Prbly over 2/3. So we've got a lot of work to do there. And tracting is no fun. Occasionally ppl want to have a chat with us, but it usually doesn't lead to us having a lesson. One lady was telling us how we just need to stuudy the Bible and apply it to our lives, but thought we were CRAZY for saying that there would be ONE man on earth to direct Christ's church. And when we told her how an apostasy was mentioned in the Bible, she asked where. Clearly she hasn't done much studying of the Bible if she doesn't even believe in prophets. "How would they have that authority if Christ didn't come back to the earth?" uhh...How did Moses and Noah have that authority before Christ came to the earth. Anywho, We've got lots of work cut out for us...and let's be honest, I'm not a big fan of tracting and putting on my smiling face when people are just rude most of the time, but who is?

 

I love you all! Here mom told me that she was awful about writing and she's probably in 2nd place after dad, haha. Hope everything is going well!

 

Love, Sis Mullen

 

PS I am in such a Christmas mood and DYING to listen to Christmas music...and I think it has to do with the fact that it's so cold here. It's going to be weird having a warm Christmas.

 

PPS Chelsey, I got your letter. You're the best, & I'll write you back hopefully today. So expect a letter in 2 weeks.

I Have Lost All Respect For Hershey's

So, good or bad, I have discovered how amazing cadbury really is. The eggs just don't do the name justice! Sister Perry introduced me to morro bars (no idea how to spell that) but there's this fudge stuff instead w/ "biscuit" bits and caramel outside the the fudge and then covered in chocolate. So like a twix, but a million times better. Sister Perry said she wished she could have recorded me taking my first bite and that it should have been a commercial. It was amazing!! So I finally had tim tam slams and my life will never be the same again. I was quite hesitant to get the white chocolate ones b/c chocolate was not meant to be white, but S. Perry said they were delish, so we did, and they are reall ygood by themselves, but even better with hot chocolate on the inside melting everything and then you put the cookie in your mouth and it's just a mouthful of rich, chocolately goodness!! We also got a Memphis ice cream bar from one of the members..amazing! It had toffee bits in the ice cream and the ice cream was amazing, my goodness, they sure do have aamzing desserts here! Speaking of food, We had another meal at a member's house this week (Sis Rudo makes us soup and what not and brings it over to us, but this was the 2nd time we ate at a member's) and we were eating at 4, so the rest of her fam wasn't eating and there was probably enough food on the table for 10 ppl. Fried chicken, this crab salad thing (which I actually ate and actually kinda liked), pizza, bread (Bread and butter is served at every meal here), tarrow (prettly bland potato like things w/ coconut cream on top) and two other plates I can't really describe and a huge bowl of cake, fruit (they love their canned fruit on desserts) w/ this strawberry cheescake ice cream and I felt like I was going to explode afterwards! PS the ice cream here is really good too. I'm pretty sure Kurt would like it a lot more than Blue Bell, haha, the flavors are pretty rich. Oh, and they also have all sorts of sweet potatoes here, but they call it kumara and I had one and it was so good. We bought a different kind and I'm excited to try it out. So some random thigns about NZ: they have switches for all the plugs. THe only appliance you leave plugged in all the time is the fridge. And there aren't many plugs in our flat. No plugs in the bathroom, and I have one in my room. Yeah, so I'll have to invest in a battery alarm clock after I'm not w/ Sis Perry.Oh, and everyone parks half on the curb b/c there is hardly any room on the street. Not a bad idea! haha, and b/c it's NZ, the grass is still super green even though everyone drives all over it. So the pictures I attached are, let me remember, haha, umm...I think one is of Sister Perry and I. We had lunch by, I don't even know what to call it, the ocean? one day, the sun is right behind us, and we jsut had to put the camera on the car, another is of York Park down the street from us. Kind of beautiful. We walked there one morning, and then I think the other is just anothe picture of the area where we ate lunch. It's in Katikati and has a cute little bench right there and trees all over the place! Oh wait, I didn't attach that picture. I think the other one is just of huge trees next to the road b/c there are trees everywhere!

 

Funny story: So Sis. Perry played the piano, and she thinks that everyone who plays the piano has an ear and can sing, uh ,not in my case. So sometimes she sings the alto part and I have a hard time keeping the soprano part in the same key when I don't have any music, so we were singing Hope of Israel w/ one of our investigators, and S. Perry told me to hold the soprano part, and she started singing alto and I lost it and couldn't find the notes, so we were trying to control our laughter during our opening hymn. No bueno! I can sing fine if a piano is playing, but not so much a capella! haha

 

Oh, and can someone email me a picture of our kitchen if you have one of anyone in there? I was describing it to S. Perry and she said, "When I hear rainbow colors, I think hippie." So I was doing my best to explain we're not hippies, haha, but she's still curious. And no one told me where Grandpa lived in Holland? Dad? I'm sure you can tell me.  Oh, and in 2 weeks we get to speak in the Katikati branch about the Law of Chastity. We met one of the counselors, and he told us 20 min each on Chastity, but then made it sound like he was joking, but then we saw him after church and it really is just us 2 speaking on the Law of Chastity ( I had the pleasure of teaching it to one of our investigators this week, thankfully he's all for it and it wasn't too awkward on my part, haha) so if anyone could copy and paste some talks for me in an email that would be fab, or if you have any insight, it would be greatly appreciated. I gots Preach My Gospel and the scritpures right now. And I can't get on anyother websites or use any other books besides the mission library (so I'll have to wait to read A Marvelous Work and A wonder after I get back). Speaking of, we went to talk to this old man who's been talking to missionaries for 50 years and pulled that book out and also told us about silver plates, which we were kind of confused, but I feel like I hears something about that in Seminary w/ Sis. Johns. So does anyone know if Lehi wrote on silver plates at all?

 

So onto the good stuff, we found records of this 23 yr old guy, Ash, that the sister had taught once before, and we met up with him and he is amazing. He seriously is the model of the choicest investigator. The sisters hadn't committed him to read the Book of Mormon, but he was alreadly in Jacob and clearly understanding it and loving it all. And he hasn't read the bible, which blew my mind that he's read the BofM so much. And he read the pamphlet they left him on the REstoration, so he already knew about the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood. And he came to church yesterday w/ his precious 2 yr old son and loved it all! We dropped by randomly Sunday night, and he the Gospel Principles book in his hand. & he drank alcohol and tea, not THAT much, but the second we told him about the WofW, he hasn't drank anything since. And he even fasted yesterday, and wants to make it a goal to bear his testimony in Sacrament Meeting. Seriously. Golden! And I feel so blessed to be working with him! He has so much faith and everything makes so much sense to him! We're actually going to hike Mt. Maunganui w/ him and the elders in our area today and I'm so excited! The weather is PERFECT today. He's getting ready to be baptized on the 24th and is just so excited about it all. So we committed him to baptism the first time we met him, and I've heard of that happening, but just didn't know how it was possible, but he was so ready the first time we met him! We're always on a high after we talk to him b/c he is just so good and so ready to be baptized!

 

Well I think this has been long enough, I love the gospel, I love being a missionary, I love working with Sis Perry. I'm slowly getting more comfortable in lessons and talking more and bringin out my personality. Love yous! (Yes, they say "yous here) Talk to y'all next week!

 

Love, Sister Mullen