Ready for Summer...And Christimas

Talofa Lava!

I'm surrounded by Samoans now...so maybe you're thinking I got shifted to Auckland...? Don't worry, I'm still rockin' it here at the VC and still in Temple View. I'm not serving in the New Zealand Auckland Mission...I'm serving in the New Zealand Hamilton Mission. It's all good, I love it here, I feel quite at home in this area. So Sister Italy went up to Auckland and my new companion is Sister Uhrle (pronounced like "early") and she's from Samoa. She was MTC companions with Sister Chan in the MTC and they were really good friends...so you know what that means...we probably won't get along. Jokes. We're already friends, I love it. I'm excited to serve with her, it's going to be fun. Sister Uhrle is new to the VC, so it'll keep me on my toes making sure I'm on top of things to help her get adjusted and know what to do here at the VC. So each of the three companionships in the district, there's a samoan missionary. And then we baptized a Samoan last night. Talofa lava. So yeah, Landy FINALLY got baptized! She's been in contact with the church for 8 years. Been married to an RM for 10 months now, been going to church almost every week, sang in the choir in Stake Conference. The hold up was her family, they're quite staunch in their Samoan Methodist Church, but she finally just told them that she wanted to get baptized, and it was a great baptism. I'm sure her family will follow, it will definitely take time, but I'm sure they'll see the light. 

We also had Jess & Bessie get baptized on Saturday. Everything was going great til an hour before the baptism, the Auntie, who's a member, called me up and basically chewed me out about somethings that were not under my control, but I just explained that we were doing what we can at this point to make it an enjoyable experience, and a smooth transition into our ward. So they've been taught by elders and were going to a different ward until last week when the Zone Leaders told us they were in our ward. The auntie was quite upset the elders couldn't be there (since they're out of district) thankfully that was solved and the elders got permission to come, the auntie was freaking out about who else was bringing food (PS there was HEAPS of food) blah blah blah, she just wanted it to be an happy celebration by both wards (I didn't know there was unhappiness from both wards...oh wait, because there really wasn't) and and the auntie said she almost suggested that they wait to get baptized. Oh no she did-nt! She was making things a bigger deal than they needed to be. But it happened. Everything was great. The baptismal room was FULL and the auntie loved us afterwards and said how great it was and is now our friend. I decided the lesson learned was for everyone to CHILL OUT! Thank you, very much.

So this week was full on. I felt like I was constantly running around, and it was crazy, but it felt so good. I wish we were always this busy. Thankfully we've got a lot of potential investigators that we just need to go to work on and so hopefully we keep it up!

I was blessed to be able to go to transfers, I always love being there, just a fun spirit. Got to see Sister Tovale again (we were here together for 9 months and comps for 1 transfer). But being at transfers and seeing the new missionaries, I was just relieved that I don't ever have to be a new missionary again, haha. Not that it was a terrible experience, I mean I loved my trainer and everything, but it's still hard being new and trying to pick up everything you have to be doing and adjusting to the mission-culture and everything. Anywho, glad I never have to repeat that semi-painful experience.

I feel like the Lord has been taking very good care of me lately and He's just gently pushing me along. Little things just fall into place and I guess, well, that things are going quite smoothly and I'm thankful for the opportunities I'm having to grow and realizing the tender mercies I've had to strengthen and develop relationships with people (especially a bishop that I was scared to even say hi to at church...but an experience I had this weekend, I realized that we're buddy-buddy now and he trusts and likes me). (but now that I'm realizing how good things are...I guess it just means not-so-good things are coming, but I've also have to push through some mud to get to this point). Certain things I hear, like at the transfer meeting or at the training we had Saturday morning at the VC or General Conference, are JUST what I wanted and needed. Like at our VC training, Elder McLachlan talked about Christlike attributes and we were talking about charity. I was able to realize what a blessing it has been to be able to (try to) develop Christlike attributes more as a missionary. I still have far to go, but before my mission, I realized I wasn't in situations where I really NEEDED to develop certain attributes. Like stretching my faith and pushing myself WAY out of my comfort zone and learning what it really means to depend on the Lord. Also, developing patience in working with certain people. You don't have a whole lot of control of who you are around as a missionary, but as I've been kind of forced to work with certain people, I've been able to learn to push through certain things and end up becoming friends with them. Whereas, before my mission, if someone was rude/annoying...I could just avoid them. I don't even realize the blessings I'm getting from serving a mission and how much I needed this and these experiences, but am so incredibly grateful to be doing the Lord's work at this time and helping others prepare for the Second Coming!

Funny story of the week: So I was texting a member to see when/if we could come see her mum (the investigator) aaaand...I accidentally sent it to Leesa instead of Lauren. Got a text back that said, "haha, awkward...wrong person" Whoops! I died laughing. If know me, you know I have some funny, but not funny at the time, experiences of mis-texting. It's what us Mullen girls do. I obviously haven't sent a mis-text in ages. Too funny.

Jess's dad/Bessie's partner came to a lesson this past week and he said how much he likes coming to the VC because of the feeling here and especially in the Christus room. He said it's like a big slap in the face and it wakes you up. I love hearing people talk about the feeling here because as members having the Holy Ghost, I don't think we realize how different it feels being here.

Well I think that's enough for this week. It was a great week. I'm excited to serve with Sister Uhrle, we've already had some funny experiences...like Sister Mullen dropping cake of the plate TWICE last night. Uh-oh. Somethings never change.

Alofa atu!
       Sister Mullen

It's Conference Time, It's Conference Time...the leaves are falling down.

The weeks are FLYING by. The week has gone really fast, but slow at the same time...as it always does leading up to transfers because I'm anxious to hear about it. Start praying that I stay here til the end. Love this area, love the VC, want to be here for Christmas lights. So pray for me :)

We were struggling to have lessons this week and didn't really find any new investigators, but still ended the week with a miracle! So it balanced out. Last Sunday, a member came up to us and said he had a cousin who's daughter was planning on getting baptized soon and he found out she lives in our ward...but she's been meeting with the elders. We hadn't heard anything. Talked to the Zone Leaders, said they would find it out. Took them a week to get back to us. Turns out they thought she lived in the other sisters'  ward, but it's actually in ours, so that's why they never told us that the elders were teaching them. So Sunday morning we get a call that we have two people getting baptized on Saturday, Jessica (the daughter) & Pesi (the mum). The elders started teaching them because their fellowship who introduced them to the church is in the elders ward. That's not how it's supposed to work, so now that they're kind of being pushed to us, it's a little bit of a drama because of  course the investigators don't understand what's going on and why it's a big deal to go to a different ward, blah blah blah. They're fine getting baptized in our ward ,but want to keep going to the other ward after they get baptized. I tried explaining that we were "in charge" now when we were trying to set up a lesson and the interview, but they are (naturally) a little attached to the elders. ANYWAY--dramas. But they're getting baptized on Saturday. And it was cool talking to them, they were definitely prepared by the Lord. Especially the Mum. She said she's been going to heaps of churches, and they all talked about baptism, but no one ever specifically invited her to get baptized ,so she took it as a sign when the elders DID invite her. Woot woot. Like it says in good ol PMG, people are not likely to change unless invited to do so. The mum also had 3 questions before she even met with the elders, and the elders answered those questions in the first couple of lessons. I know the Lord is preparing people...it's just hard to remember on those days when NO one wants to see you, including your investigators, and the people on the street don't want to talk to you either. We had more than one day like that this week.

We also have another baptism on Sunday, Landy, who's married to an RM and been involved with the church for 8 years who finally decided she's ready to get baptized. Yes, please! Can't wait for hers!!

Conference-FINALLY! Ahh, loved it. I took some questions to Conference, and I always try to answer my questions with what I know/think I should be doing anyway, but I was trying to stay open and trust that the Lord would answer my questions as I watched Conference and I definitely got answers I was not expecting, but still what I needed. Pres. Uchtdorf was definitely one of my favorites. To be honest, one of my questions was some goals for the post-mish life and I feel like that talk was written just for me. Just a reminder to have fun when I go back. I know I have fun in the math lab, but my math lab days are over. I need to have fun just for my social sake so I interact with people other than nerdy engineers, haha. Oh my gosh, I'm going to be an engineer. But also to have fun now, which I am. Life is great, even if people don't always want to talk to us. This past week I've been overwhelmed with the love I have to be a missionary at this time. It's a great time to be doing the Lord's work...especially in New Zealand.

Themes that I noticed throughout Conference: living and studying the gospel principles, doing the Lord's will, tragedies (didn't it seem like a lot of people were telling sad stories of kids dying??) & having faith through those tragedies and trials, service, temples, temples, temples. (I hope you aren't taking for granted having access to the temple. I hope I don't do that when I go home. I have sat outside the temple almost everyday for the last 10 months...and it is so out-of-bounds for me. I hate it. So take advantage and go!), being converted in your heart and letting the doctrine go deep down, family and marriage. I feel like trials and family are always themes of Conference. Satan is definitely attacking the whanau ("family" in maori) and trials will always be apart of this life, so it makes sense. And my FAVORITE thing that stood out to me again and again in Conference was how much God is aware of each and every one of us. Saturday morning during personal study, I came across D&C 84:116, "Let him ^atrust in me and he shall not be ^bconfounded; and a ^chair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed." And then I heard heaps about how much God loves us and is aware of us. And it's true. I don't even know all the hairs on my head! They fall out all the time and I don't even see them. God is more aware of us than we are of ourselves. He loves us, what a comforting thought that is. He loves us more than we realize.

Well that's long enough. Have a great week! Love yous!

Ofa atu,
            Sister Mullen

PS Finally had a hangi. It's a maori thing. Cooking the food in an underground oven. Real unique NZ food: chicken, pumpkin, kumara, and potatoes. It was really good and some of the best chicken I've had in NZ...but my goodness, I can't take anymore of that meal! We had it three times this week. Like most other weeks. That's all they feed you in NZ. I feel like I'm becoming a pumpkin connoisseur because it all. the. time. Love it though. I'll definitely miss pumpkin and kumara.

New Zealand's Most Wanted

Oh my goodness, HEAPS of experiences I want to share with you this week. It was full-on, but good.

Onto the good news of the week: Hong actually got baptized! This whole experience was a HUGE tender mercy. It all went so ridiculously smooth. We were able to teach him everything in a couple days since he's home for school holidays. We were waiting for Satan to make an appearance, and Sunday morning I thought I wasn't going to be able to get a hold of him to make sure he was up for church and coming to get confirmed...he didn't answer the first time, but he answered the second time. I feel like my more recent baptisms have been huge because they're part member families or Tongans, but his was small, but it seemed just right for him. Oh, the only thing that didn't go as planned was that we were planning on showing a DVD while he was changing, but the chapel doesn't have a DVD player, so we had to use a VCR....does anyone remember what those are? And then we found a random, old, 16 minute VHS in the closet. It was still good though, thankfully the church teaches the same things as it did 30 years ago, haha. One of the highlights for me was that we had one of the young men in the ward baptize Hong and it was just fun to be able to give him the opportunity to baptize someone. And also to get the young men to speak at the baptism as well. I love good, young men. Nothing gets me excited like seeing young men who are going on a mission soon.

Speaking of going on missions: we were SHOCKED that they changed the age! Wow sir. A random member sent us a text in the morning, and then had it confirmed by our ride to church. It was a cool experience though, just knowing that I already have that solid foundation that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet, so whatever he says is game and it is from God. So I could instantly accept it without even trying to debate. Might sound dumb, but it was a testimony building experience for me. Just a reminder that I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet and no matter what I hear about him or whatevs, I know that he's a prophet and no one will change my view of that. Of course we've been talking about if we would have gone when we were 19. Me, probably not. But I've also had to many confirmations that this is the mission experience I needed...after I was 21. And I'm also so thankful for the experiences I had from my earthly years of being 19-21. Plenty of bad experiences that I would have rather skipped, but I still made some great friends and had experiences that got me to where I am today. I figured if I needed to go when I was 19, I would have been born in a different year. One elder kept telling me, "what are we going to do with 19 year old sisters?" & I kept saying, "What are we going to do with 18 year old ELDERS??" I don't think I'll really see the effects of it as a missionary, but I am anxious to see the effects. I definitely think it means more sister missionaries...woot woot. Girl power.

So we had a training as a zone this week from our mission president about the way we talk to people on the street and making more normal and talking WITH them instead of talking TO them. It was great and I learned heaps, but I felt like it should have been called "Missionary Social Skills 101." Haha, seriously. I said something I learned was that we even though we're missionaries, we don't have to give up all social skills and be awkward... even though we mostly are and do things that are not acceptable unless you have a nametag. Does anyone remember when I said a member told us, "I've never seen a missionary be natural?"

Something I've been thinking of is how great it is when you are living the gospel to be able to have that hope that there are always good things in the future. Yeah, you might have to walk through some nasty as mud to get there, but it will be good in the end. There will still be blessings along the way. And after this life, life will be wonderful and only full of great things! Ahh, I love it. I love being able to look to the future and know that things will ALWAYS get better from here, as long as we are doing our part and keeping our covenants. I guess, in a way, that applies to me finishing soon. Ouch. I really said that. But it's true. So it's just important to remember that there are still great things waiting in the rest of my life, even though I won't be living in the beautiful land of the long white cloud that has become my home and I'll have to go back to listening to ugly American accents, haha. Really though, I hate the way I sound sometimes.

Something I've also noticed is the growth in the missionaries around me: my companion (Sister Somma), especially Sister Chan (the sister I trained), other missionaries around me, and this elder that has been one of my zone leaders for the last 4 transfers. And it's been great to see that. But I also wished it was easier to see the growth in me. There is this member who stopped in the VC,  I served in his ward one transfer and he said that I'm not the same person I was 4 months ago. Yeah, I know I've grown heaps, but sometimes it's not so easy to see and I feel like the same ol' spastic Ally who makes really weird noises sometimes and thinks she's pretty funny sometimes...and likes to party.  All I can say is that I've loved being a missionary. Without a doubt the best decision I've made. There have been some ultimate highs, and some ultimate lows, but it has all happened for a reason.

Ah, one more thing: a less-active came into the VC on his way from Hastings back to Auckland. He wants to come back and knows he needs to, and specific experiences I've had allowed me to really click with him and share certain things with him and I felt like I was definitely the one who needed to talk to him. Feels good knowing that I specifically needed to help someone. Hope he really did go to church like he said he was going to.

Random story:
-We were trying to contact a part member family that lives out in the country, and as we were knocking their door, they're two little piggies and two mommy piggies (maybe one was a daddy piggy) came up and surrounded me. Momma piggy was sniffing/licking my legs and the baby piggies were licking my feet and trying to eat the tassels on my shoes. LOVED it. Haha, they're so ugly, but so cute at the same time.

Quite a long email, but it was a good week! And I have so much more I could tell. I'm like changing my life over here...naturally I should have a lot to tell, right?

Love you heaps, have a fantabulous week!

Anxiously waiting for conference,
                 Sister Mullen

How is it Already October?

Another week come and gone. But it's been a good week. Daylight savings...love it when summer is on it's way and it stays light so late. Now people won't tell us we're out so late at 7:00 pm since it'll still be light!

Highlight of the week: Hong from Cambodia! So Hong has been to church twice. A bit of language barrier, and we were trying to set up a lesson with him weeks ago & he kept saying, "Just come get me for church. Yeah, yeah, just come get me for church." So he's been to church twice, he's been to mutual the last two weeks and is planning on going on the camp with the YM in a couple weeks. So we went and saw him Saturday and he was keen to come to church, we dropped off a white shirt and tie...and now he's preparing for baptism this coming Saturday. He's 15 and skinny as and I just love the kid. So we've like hardly taught him, but we taught him Saturday after he agreed to prepare for baptism this week and again yesterday and he's just so sweet, humble, and keen to be good! He was telling us how his brother left yesterday but they don't know when he'll come back, and he said, "my brother is not very good, but I'm not like him, I'm good." Love it. And apparently one of the YM counselors took him to the VC on the way home one night from mutual and showed him President Monson. Yes, please! Only concern is the parents don't speak English, but we obviously have to get permission from them. So Hong is trying to talk to them and explain the situation. We'll see. Hopefully all goes well! Haha, the whole situation just makes me laugh. And whenever I call and Hong answers, all I say is, "Hi Hong!" and he knows right away it's me.

We had a lesson with our favorite couple, Kimi & Leesa (he's LA, she's the investigator...they're getting married in January, and unfortunately they don't want to live separately til then, so she'll get baptized then. PS was shocked when we found out she's only 19. I feel so old.) And we printed off a talk to read with them...and I felt so old school because they were using their phones/iPods to look up the talk on the gospel library app they have.

So we do "sisters trade offs" once a transfer now. I was with Sister Agavale, who Sister Chan is training. It was kind of funny when we were evaluating the day and seeing how we're almost at opposite ends of our missions. She's been out 3 weeks....and she thinks I know it all. HA! It's always different to have a "full proselyting" day, but it feels good. (We don't come into the VC when we have trade offs.) Sister Agavale is from Samoa and it's always humbling to serve with islanders. Different culture that us, proud, stubborn Americans have heaps to learn from. I definitely could feel how sincere she is when she talks with people and how she just wants to help people! ...including her companion.

Something that someone said in Sunday School the other week that has really affected me is that you can believe, have faith, and find evidence of God helping you out...OR you can not believe, not have faith, and find evidence to support your ideas thinking that you did things all on your own instead of recognizing a tender mercy from the Lord. I know that Heavenly Father really is there helping us out and having faith just makes things better and really can give you power and strength to do what the Lord wants & needs you to do. I feel like it's helped me a lot to react better to certain situations too. Like not getting defensive and think that people/missionaries think I can't do something or I won't remember to do it when they're just trying to help out or to remind me. Does that make sense? Maybe an example would be better: we went on splits for church yesterday and the Bishop told Sister Somma "make sure the parents know!" when talking about Hong getting baptized. And instead of saying, "Uh...yeah, Bishop! Of course we will...they have to sign the baptismal record!" I said, "Oh, yep, we definitely will make sure they're okay with it." I think that's something I've needed to work on lately: not refusing help. And I guess controlling my sass...which I have a lot of at different times. :)

Love you heaps! Ofa atu!
Sister Mullen

PS For those who don't know...Dad sent me a nun calendar for the year, and October's picture is the funniest I've seen so far and I just had to pass it on.

PPS Having a companion who knows English as a second language makes for some funny comments sometimes. She was always confused why people say, "oh, it's chilly," when it's not hot...because you eat chilis and they're hot. Valid concern, that doesn't make any sense, but it still makes me laugh.

Pictures

-NZ Sunsets...never get old
-Dinner with the Ueleses. He served his mission in El Paso, and I love hearing him talk about it. And I just love, love, LOVE this family.
-It looks like I'm really riding the tiger, right? ...we had fun at the zoo this week for p-day!

-Jumping picture...in front of the temple...surprise? This was when our last District leader (the one next to me) was going home. Sad day. I hate sending missionaries home. And we've sent someone home the last 4 transfers.
-We had dinner with a recent convert yesterday, her husband ain't a member and isn't keen to learn, but she always tells us when he asks about us when we haven't been by in a while :) His heart is softening. Anywho, their kids were having a blast putting on our gumboots and walking around in them. Sorry, Sister Somma, I'm sending the picture where I look good and you don't, haha.

-Loving the car.
-Hating the bikes.

-the 4 musketeers. We've been in the same district for 3 transfers. Sis Tovale finally made it up to Auckland, she's been here since before I got to the VC. Weird not having her at the VC. And I have loved being able to serve around Sister Chan for more than our 2 transfers together. I feel it's only been a month since I picked Sister Chan up from Auckland, and now she's been out over 4 months. Where is my life going??



Growing Pains

All I can say is that I had NO idea what I was getting myself into when I came on a mission. Still encountering new experiences that are pushing and pulling me in directions I didn't even know I could go or that mattered. And it's painful sometimes. But I will forever be grateful for the experiences I've had as a missionary...good and bad. I'll never forget any of it. And there has been heaps of growing this week...and it has not been particularly enjoyable, but besides all of that...we've had some amazing experiences this week.
First off: my favorites right now are Kimi & Leesa. Kimi (he's the male) is a less active coming back to church, Leesa is the investigator and just soaking up the gospel! They moved into our area a couple weeks ago and I have LOVED teaching them...probably because they're pretty much our age, so we feel like we're legit friends with them. They're getting married in January (6 days after I leave...I was praying that it was going to be while you're here, Mom & Dad, but unfortunately not). So the deal was that she was getting baptized after they get married in January, but we decided to have her pray with us to know if she should get baptized in October instead. She did not want to pray in front of us because she still doesn't feel comfortable, but we were a little persistent, and she prayed, and it was amazing, and one of the most powerful experiences I've had and she got her answer that she should be baptized in October. That was friday, they came to church on Sunday, and we had a lesson afterwards at the VC and obviously went over the Law of Chastity and how they can't be living together, and they had talked about that since our lesson on Friday. They don't think they can handle it living separately right now, but when talking to them, I've never felt so confident that God would provide a way for them and bless them so much in return. So we're still working on them. Despite what happens, we'll keep teaching them and loving them. After our lesson on Friday night, Kimi said, "Now I agree with my dad when he always said, 'Sisters are the best.' " ...feels good to hear that, haha. (PS they've met with elders in the past, but it hasn't really gone anywhere and they just decided recently to move forward in the gospel...and then they moved into our ward.)
Other miracle of the week was our little eternigator friend, Landy, decided she finally wants to be baptized!! She's met with 13 sets of missionaries, got married to an RM in January. She's busy as and is so hard to set up appointments with...but she knows it all, it just getting her to tell her family (they're quite involved in their Samoan church). And we heard at church on Sunday that she told Bishop she wanted to get baptized, so we went and saw her last night and she told us too! Oh my goodness, it was a miracle. Just scheduling problems. This weekend is "too soon" for her family, she'll be gone the next weekend, the next weekend is General Conference (which I am so frustrated with!) and so it'll be the NEXT Saturday...after transfers. Kill me. We're still hoping it'll happen this Saturday. Why not? Especially because Oct 20 is AGES away!!
Part member families, or part member couples in these cases, are my favorites to work with. Even though we're not baptizing a family of 12, but it's basically like baptizing a family knowing their kids will be raised in the gospel and bless their family for generations. It's just so rewarding!
We also went to the Temple this week...haleluja! (..however you spell that) It has been too long since I've been in, but nonetheless, still felt great to be there. I really do think everyone is better looking in white :) I had a cool experience last week with George...I think I wrote about him last week, a random nonmember who came to the VC, and he tried to go inside the temple and he told me how it was a completely different feeling in there...even being in the VC didn't come close to it.
Another highlight of the week was seeing a family from Tauranga. The parents got baptized just a couple weeks before we got to the are and the mum came out with us HEAPS to lessons. Their kids got baptized a couple months before the parents, and they were at the temple because their son is going on his mission in a couple weeks and the parents told me they're planning on getting sealed in December. They weren't even my converts, but it was just so exciting to see them and hear how great they're family is doing. They're living the dream you want for every convert!
One of the many, many lesson learned this week: how important faith is. It really is the first step of the gospel, but easy to brush over. I've just had it reinforced how important and basic faith is. Don't leave home without it.
Ofa atu!
      Sister Mullen

Oh Hey...

I can't believe how fast the weeks are going now, I feel like I just emailed y'all a couple days ago. I can't believe it's past the middle of September...I'm still disoriented with it being cold this time of year...I feel like I'm in February...probably doesn't help that I never got a "Summer Holiday" either so everything is a big blur.
So last weekend everything was looking sweet as in our area...but it's funny how quickly things take a turn and don't work out that well. We've still got heaps of potential...but working on turning it into reality and not potential. One of the best parts was that we got this referral from other missionaries awhile ago for Hong, from Cambodia, 15 years old. We stopped by to see him, but he didn't really want to set up an appointment, and just kept telling us to come pick him up for church, but then he wasn't able to come to church. So last Saturday, we called in to see him again, and were trying to set up for later in the week, and he just kept saying, "yeah, come get me for church." So we called a member Saturday night to give him a ride, and Sunday morning, he was still keen to come (by the way...bit of a language barrier with him, but we definitely understood that he was eager to come to church), I explained to him that it was going to be a different church meeting (because we had Stake Conference yesterday...and getting a new Stake President...so it was really really different.) but he kept saying, "Okay, come pick me up for church." Sweet as. The member brought him to church and Hong showed up with a Cambodian Book of Mormon that apparently he got from his brother who got it from missionaries ages ago. The member was laughing at us when we found out he had a Book of Mormon and it didn't come from us. Anywho, he's just going to heaps of churches (showed us a program from another church) so hopefully we can teach him what makes this church different.
Sister Chan (my super quiet, but awesome companion I trained from Hong Kong) told me this week she feels like she is so loud now after being my companion, haha, I loved hearing that. Not that anyone would describe her as being loud, even now, she's still pretty quiet, but glad to know I could help her out in that way...especially now that she has a pretty quiet companion.
Rode our bikes a few more times this week. Funny how sometimes I actually want to ride it (only short distances though :) )...mostly because it's always an adventure riding our bikes and I'm always laughing...mostly at how ridiculously it is to ride a bike wearing a skirt. Seriously though, skirts on bikes is the worst idea EVER!
Something I've been off/on about for ages is trying to recognize the tender mercies the Lord gives me everyday. So now I'm trying to be better about it again, but it really is so good to try to notice that, because they're always there, and it just shows how much Heavenly Father is willing to help us out. I don't know if I've said this before, but I don't believe in coincidences anymore...anything good that happens is a tender mercy from Heavenly Father.
One of the many many tender mercies of the week: we were on foot in our area yesterday after church for a couple hours (it's just a massive neighborhood). It was POURING all morning, so we put on our gumboots and serious raincoats and were prepared for the rain! We came out of our first appointment at 3 and it was sunny as and beautiful! ...and remained so until we got home at 7:30 last night (for the record we go home early on Sunday evenings...don't think we're being dodgy missionaries :) ), and then it started pouring again. Heavenly Father is too good to us. Not all of our appointments went through, so we were walking around for a couple hours in our gumboots and massive raincoats over our bags in the best weather we've seen all week. Our bags were so heavy and my legs were killing me at the end of the night. But I'll take it over tromping through the rain for hours! Been there, done that, hated it. Ha.
Things are going good. Going to the temple this week and I'm giddy like a little kid. Love the new VC directors, the McLachlans. They're just so...lovely! Just great to be around and I'm excited to serve with them. The Hardy's (the couple from Clinton, UT) left today. So sad, but I know I'll see them again. So we got the fulltime couple to replace them, the Bakers. He is from England, she is from NZ, but they live in Utah...well did, before they got here. Experiences I had this week and having so many new missionaries here (young and senior couples) I realized how I'm the old foogy here and so everyone looks to me because they think I know what I'm doing...who signed me up for this job? The McLachlans wanted me to take the Bakers on a tour to "show em how it's done." Oh my, I still have so much to learn myself! But just definitely have had it reiterated to me lately that the Lord calls us in our weaknesses and blesses AND qualifies us in the work, as it says in D&C 35:17, "And I have sent forth the afulness of my gospel by the hand of my servant Joseph; and in weakness have I blessed him;" I now understand what my MTC teacher meant when we asked him when he felt like he finally knew what he was doing as a missionary and had the skills down...and he told us, "I never felt like that ...I always had things to work on."
That's it, see y'all at the same time next week.
Love,
     Sister Mullen

Sharing is Caring

Lots to say this week, here we go:

Drum roll for transfers...oh wait, still at the VC, but I love it, and I've come to love this area.

Our theme for the transfer is Sharing is Caring...because we now have to share a car. I'm still in the same area (for those who don't remember...I'm still in the heavily populated LDS area where we cover 7 wards), still with Sister Somma from Italy. When the Zone Leaders called us about transfers and told us they were taking our car away, I didn't believe them and was just in shock. I figured they would have to keep me here because I'm one of the few sisters with a driver's license and we need a car in our area. First off: freaking out because we have an investigator who lives 15 km's away. Second off: I was thinking, "How am I supposed to look good for the VC when I'm on a bike?" ...kind of kidding, but not really.   Besides the fact that I don't want to bike the scary highway stretch from Temple View to the other side of our area where there are actually nonmembers, I was then just frustrated with how ineffective walking is. lakjfvnjd, Anywho, worked my magic and now we're sharing with the other sisters because that's how they used to do it in the past (but there are still times we don't have the car). When our Zone Leaders found out we're sharing, he said , "I'm Sister Mullen, and I get what I want." Haha, I do what I can.

-So last District Meeting (that consists of only 3 companionships) we had a testimony meeting and it was so good. Like the elder in charge said, it's one thing sharing your testimony with your investigators and completely different with other missionaries. I loved it. I realized I love bearing my testimony. I feel like I'm going to be one of those people that races up to the pulpit every fast Sunday with the Barrons and Brother Pena.
-Rode my bike for the 3rd time on my mission, but it was only from our flat to the VC which is 1 km. I hate bikes. When we called one member to give us a ride to the other part of our area, she said was busy, but told us to go to the shop in the area and look desperate because there are always people going into town. Are you kidding me??
-My testimony of "I Am A Child of God" has definitely grown as a missionary of how powerful it is. We started teaching a girl with 5 kids 7 and under, single mum. Oh boy. Anywho, we had a lesson on Friday and we sang "I Am A Child of God" with her and her kids, and at primary on Sunday, the 4 year old kept requesting that we sing "I Am A Child of God." I was just amazed since she had only sung it once. Another investigator we had a while ago, she had 3 little girls, 5, 3, and 1 year old. and We often sang "I Am A Child of God" and the mum said her girls were always singing it. Love it. And we have this fun music video type thing to "I Am A Child of God" at the VC that we show to almost everyone.
-Most people just don't know what to say to the missionaries, and it's really funny sometimes. We called one girl to come to a lesson with us, but turns out she's going to Aussie for a week, and so I told her to have a fun week in Aussie and she said, "Have fun with your lesson...and with being a missionary for the next week!" Haha, I'll try to.
-Tried contacting a former investigator this week who's name was Rosie...reminded me of the good ol' days of wanting to be Allyson Rosey Mullen. I'll never forget that horse.

Things are picking up like craziness in our area, it's so exciting. We're finding out about all sorts of people from members and people who have been coming to church with their friends, ah, the wards are just too big it's hard to know what's going on, but we're finding out the secret nonmembers that have been coming to church.

This is the highlight of the week though, for sure: A week ago we tried to go see a less-active male (haven't really tried to see LA males like at all on my mission because we would need a female to go inside anyway) and we saw one, and he wasn't the least bit interested ,but I decided to knock on some of the neighbor's doors, and we met Bruce and he was willing to let us  come back to his house to meet his family on Saturday. So on Friday, I called to confirm the appointment, and a girl answered and when she found out it was the missionaries, she said we didn't need to come by because they were already affiliated with a church. And I asked if it would be okay if we still came by to see Bruce sometime, and she said we didn't need to..but then she asked, "But did Bruce say he wanted you back?" And I said that we scheduled a time to come back, and she was willing to let us come by. I felt like the appointment wasn't going to go through because Bruce wasn't too keen when we first talked to him, but he was there, waiting for us, and let us in. We sat down with him, and eventually his partner came over too, Emily. And she wanted to know why there were so many churches, so we taught about the Restoration. And then at the end, she said that she has been wondering how to get Bruce to come to church with her. Turns out I had talked to Emily on the phone about the appointment, and she said she realized in the middle of our converstation that maybe this is how Bruce would come to church with her. She wondered if we were an answer to her prayers...uhh, yes, yes we are. Wow. I've never had that experience before and it felt so good. They agreed to prepare for baptism on the 6th of October, but she works on Sundays, so we have some work to do. Oh, did I mention they have 5 kids. Anyway, love it. Feels good knowing we were in the right place at the right time.

Met a sister who served at the LA Visitors' Centre came in on Saturday and it was fun talking to her and hearing about how different the LA VC is. Primarily how much more busy it is. Made me feel like a bum at our VC that is quite slow except on Saturdays. Made me want to serve at a busy VC, but I love it here and wouldn't trade the experiences I've had for ANYthing.


Heaps of miracles and tender mercies this week...but that would just turn my email into a novel.

Love,
    Sister Allyson Rosey Mullen

Scripture of the week: Mosiah 4:6-7, " I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal body—I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world." Ponder it on your own, I just fell in love with it. I love finding scriptures that I've read a million times, but this time it hits me different and I love it and wonder how I've never caught it before. Yay for the blessings that come the Atonement and putting our trust in the Lord!

Just a Random As Letter

Hi. It's me again.

Not the most amazing week, but still good. I'm still happy...as (that's for you Danny). I feel like I just have random thoughts/stories from the week, so here we go:

-Sister Somma was sick, so Sister Chan (the sister I trained) came with me to a lesson and that experience was definitely a tender mercy. It was cool to see how much she's grown even in the last 5 weeks since we broke up. It was fun having her back me up in the car again, haha, and it just felt like we were companions again. Love that girl so much. She's training this upcoming transfer and I just feel like a proud parent, my little Sister Chan is growing up. Oh, I still feel so blessed to have had her as a companion.
-Kelly, our main investigator: he's preparing to be baptized on September 22. He has short term memory loss, so it makes things interesting. His sister is a member and he's just fun to be around. It's been fun teaching him.
-When a member found out I'm from Texas, he told me, "When we're all forced to move to the states to build Zion, I want to live in Texas." Unfortunately Zion won't be in Texas, but I'm glad he knows which is the best state.
-Our Visitors' Centre directors from Canada have FINALLY gotten here. They are a lovely couple and I'm excited to serve with them. (Well, hopefully I stay here and serve with them.) They feel quite overwhelmed with their responsibilities and just being in a new country too. I just remembered how lost I felt being here too and told them they're not alone. I constantly had to ask Sister Perry what people were saying because I just didn't understand...especially the kiwi lingo.
-Our stake had a glee fest this week. It was so fun. Our stake needs to jump on that ship. It just made me think of how fun it was when I would make "music videos" with Mel and Carolyn...except they were singing too and had better costumes than us pulling things out of our closets. Oh my, I am just DYING to watch some of those videos right now.
-A funny story from a couple weeks ago that I forgot to share:

So we were on chats, but having some technical difficulties. Sister Somma couldn't type, so I had to say everything in the conversation, but we found out half way through that I wasn't getting everything that person was saying on my screen, so it made for some pretty funny comments. What I did NOT see is in green, so I would say one thing, but it turns out she had said something else in the mean time, so it made my comment out of place. I hope you  understand...we were dying laughing when we found out what had happened.

(she was asking about Santa Clause...)
Lucy: I thought there was a Christian Santa, a Jewish Santa and a Hindu Santa.

Lucy: And they all deliver presents to children of their faith.

Lucy: Do Mormon Children not get presents then?

Allyson: Not that I personally know of, but I can't speak for other churches.

...

Allyson: Do you have a belief in Jesus Christ Lucy?

Lucy: I don't really know much about him.

Lucy: I'm just kind of looking into religions now.

Lucy: To find out what they are about. I've seen some pictures of him before though and I must say he has superb facial hair.

Allyson: That's cool, well how have you heard of our Church before?

...but now that I've typed this up, it doesn't seem funny. Hope you get a laugh out of it. Some stories just don't translate well into an email.

We had a cool experience going to see a less active family. We knocked on the door, and she said that she had requested no visits, but let us in and gave us a hot drink. So we were able to talk for a bit, and I'll be honest, sometimes I had NO idea what to say, but I knew that Heavenly Father would not open my mouth to speak, and that I just had to start talking and it would come. We were both praying hard out to know what to say, and thankfully we were on the same page and bringing it back to the Atonement. She said we had lovely spirits about us and invited us back! That definitely was an inspired visit and was a reminder that I am here doing the Lord's work. It feels good to help people. I was thinking of the pre-mish days and feeling like I was doing nothing to grow and progress, especially in the gospel...and the thought that came to my mind was, "How was playing kickball helping anyone progress??" Haha, I'm sure I'll go home and keep on playing intramural kickball...but for now, it seems like there are better things to do.

Had a good study today looking up scriptures in under "Trust in the Lord" in the topical guide. The scriptures I came across talked about the blessings that come from trusting in the Lord: deliverance from our enemies, mercy, love, and most importantly: eternal life. So let's just do it. It really is so much better when you know that you're doing what the Lord wants you to do. So let's all care more about what the Lord thinks instead of what other people think. It'll make us happy. Easier said than done, right?

Love y'all (people love it on the rare occasion I say 'y'all' I need to say it more.) Love the gospel. Love New Zealand.

Ofa atu!

    Sister Mullen

Spring Has Sprung

...well I think it's sprung. We had beautiful weather this week. I feel like I'm giddy like it's Christmas time. It's weird though, I feel like the weather hasn't changed that much in the past year which is why I think it's so hard to realize how long I've been out. 

This week was pretty good. We've been able to find people to teach and it's felt SO good. Like I was talking to my District Leader, I don't feel like I did anything different, I just felt like it was the Lord's timing...and I definitely have learned somethings in the process.

Highlights of the week:
-At dinner with a family last week, it came up that I'm studying ME, so then the jokes went on and on (what's new) and I had it re-confirmed to me how much of I nerd I am. He was showing me the calculator on his iPhone and how when you turn it sideways, it becomes a scientific calculator, and I just realized how long it's been since I've held/used a calculator...and I kind of miss it. I admitted that I know that it is one of the most socially awkward majors out there.
-Things went so well this week that we actually went on splits so that we could be at 2 wards that met at the same time (woot woot!). Anyway, we had just pulled up to the chapel and one ward was coming out, and I hear my temporary companion say, "Oh my gosh, the little boy is peeing." And I look up and see a 2 or 3 year old with his pants down peeing on the flower bed. It was actually the stake president's son. I DIED laughing. Seriously.

Highlight of the week was definitely mission conference. It just feels so good to be around so many missionaries, even though I hardly know anyone. You live in a bubble when you serve at the VC, and all the other missionaries I have served with have gone home. Anyway, we had Elder Christiansen (Seventy...presidency of the seventy...somesing like that) and Elder Pearson (in the area presidency) and they're wives for 4 whole hours and it was the best! I couldn't write fast enough. They talked a lot about becoming a true disciple of Christ (3 Nephi 5:13) and letting these experiences becoming you and a part of you, or just going through the motions. I feel like I was really able to reflect on how much I've needed these experiences as a missionary. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I also had no idea how much I needed this. I don't know how I would have been able to face the rest of my life without being here. They also talked about how you find yourself when you lose yourself in the service of others, and it's so true. And the hardest times are when I'm thinking too much about myself. I guess I just realized how much my mission means to me, and I just can't put it into words. I'll be honest, I feel like an email home once a week is just not doing justice of the experiences I've had...but at the same time, you just wouldn't understand unless you were here.

It was a great week and we've got some great potential investigators coming our way. Like a boy we met who has been coming to church every other week with his friends, but the member dad didn't know how to introduce the missionaries to them (beat them to it!), but I just feel like I can't put into words what happened this week and I feel like I don't know what to share. Learning heaps ever week. Trying to take it all in because it's going by so fast. I feel like I'm just speechless at this point. The end. 

Love y'all heaps!
      Sister Mullen

Wet, wet, wet...as

Hey, did you know it rains a lot in New Zealand? Let's be honest, I feel like I just type to a computer screen and it gets sent to a black hole. And then I freak out sometimes thinking of the things I said in a letter when I think of people actually reading it. Like how I felt like my letters at the beginning were all about food...it's obviously called the 40 kg mission for a reason....

Hmm...it was a long week. Obviously Heavenly Father has lots for me to learn right now. I thought I was doing a good job at staying happy even though things aren't so great, but then we had a companion study with some elders and they said they could feel the load we have as we started telling them how we hardly have anyone to teach. Dang it. I hate how I feel like some people can read me like a book. Still more to learn little Sister Mullen.

Obviously the best thing about the week was Zone Conference. Started off with a musical number...performed by yours truly. Ugh. I rememberd I'm not a performer. Anywho, that was painfully over soon enough. President Lekias was pretty cheeky at this conference and was making jokes all over the place, it was pretty funny. A cool experience he helped us to have was that he was talking about the Atonement and then towards the end of it, he asked us all to notice the Spirit that was there, and obviously it was pretty nice and he just mentioned the Spirit that comes as we talk about the Atonement. And I, once again, had the reminder of how important it is to not lose sight of the Atonement and how we should never leave a situation without mentioning Jesus Christ. I feel like I learned how the Atonement can really turn our weaknesses into strengths and how thinking of Christ and trying to be like Him really is the answer for everything. I had some questions of how to handle situations differently or other things I'm working on, I just feel like Christ was the answer for everything. He also talked about how if we are motivated by Christ, then our leaders won't have to be on us to do certain things and to talk to more people during the week...we'll just do it. Which is so important to remember because sometimes I just get too caught up thinking about having to talk to my district leader at night and tell him what we did or didn't do, but just as we keep our thoughts focused on the Savior, it really will help so much.

Oh, good news, our new VC director's will FINALLY be coming in two weeks. They were supposed to be here in January after the old ones left, but they've had serious visa problems. Perfect timing because the fulltime couple, the Hardys,  that was asked to step up to the job (they were just called to be a fulltime VC couple), they're finishing in about 3 weeks. I'm going to miss the Hardy's so ridiculously much. I definitely needed them here to help me through some times. They live in Clinton, so thankfully I know I'll see them again. Funny to think of the people I had to come meet in New Zealand.

I watched a video about Matthew Cowley and it is amazing to hear stories of when he was hear as a missionary and as a mission president. One time he just got in a car and started driving, not knowing where he was going, and he met two ladies at a shop and when he got there, one of them said, "See, I told you he'd come if we waited here." And it was a couple hour drive to get to were those ladies were. Craziness.

Well that's it folks. I can't believe it's the end of August. I can't believe I've been out this long. Where is my life going?!

Love,
     Sister Mullen

Just a Crazy, But Entertaining Week

Talofa Lava!

Hmm, an interesting week, lots of funny stories, but to be honest, not a whole lot of "spiritual missionary" stories. Ha. One thing I do love about being at the VC is being able to see people from Tauranga. I saw this member, Sister Rudo, I'm sure no one remembers her, but she's the old lady who saved my life as a new missionary. Fed us dinner the first night we got there because we didn't have any food in the new flat that the sisters just moved into and she bought my sheets and blanket, besides the fact that she came out with us several times a week for lessons. She's the best. I actually wrote her a letter last week and was ecstatic to see her at the VC on Saturday, and she was definitely excited to see me, I felt special. She misses the sisters so so much (they put elders in when I left. That's happened in 3 of my areas...is that supposed to mean something?) She said the elders are just so...young! Haha, she's the best. Who knew I had a best friend to come find in NZ who's 60 years older than me?

Saturday, a family of 2 brothers & 2 sisters came in. They live in Rotorua, but they're dad is having surgery at the hospital here and they could see the temple from his hospital room, so they decided to come out here! Yay! I wasn't able to give them a whole tour, but talked to them about the history of the church in New Zealand, building the temple and church college and what goes on in the temple and it was just SO refreshing being able to teach someone who was so accepting and willing to listen. They didn't want to get baptized (even though i just want them to and know that they're ready and want and need this) but they just found it all so interesting and I'm just praying they'll meet missionaries at home. It's such a blessing to be at the VC and have sincerely interested people come to us and to take a break from the rejection.

On to the funny stories:
-Witnessed a proposal at the VC this week. So presh.
-Remember the adopted daughter that got baptized a couple weeks ago? Well the dad still wants us to teach her everything, so I was calling to set up an appointment, and he of course knew it was us right away (it's like I have an accent or something...everyone ALWAYS knows it's the missionaries when I call) & he said, "What do you pesky mormons want? ...I've got to mean to you, it makes you stronger. What's that scripture? 'Blessed are the persecuted...' " & then I asked to talk to his son who's in the YSA ward (because we wanted his help with an investigator) & the dad said , "No, you can't date my son!" I think he said something about permission from the mission president, but I just DIED laughing because it was awkward as a missionary and just awkward for Ally. Doubly awkward. But that's what you do as a missionary. Awkwardness. It took me a while to gain composure to actually be able to talk to him. Thankfully I understand that family's sense of humor.
-Got chased by a dog. Almost felt good actually. Haven't done that since I got to Hamilton.
-A member thought my italian companion sounded like TI & Rihanna and like she's from Atlanta....uh, what?
-Went to the YSA ward we cover for the first time since I've been here in this area. It was weird at first being a missionary and feeling like I was back at BYU. But then I remembered how I definitely prefer YSA over family wards. Let's be honest, RS in family wards is all about being a mom.
-Dinner with this intense, but good member. She loves saying phrases in maori and then saying, "What I said in maori is..." Showed us where she hides the spare key so we can come get some kai (food) if we want.

I've been studying grace a lot lately and as I've been reading scriptures about how Christ came to save us from our sins, not in our sins, it just doesn't make sense to me how people think we don't have to work towards the privilege and honor of being able to live with our Heavenly Father. But also have re-realized that if we don't repent, we won't want to live in God's presence. It won't be enjoyable for us. It really is a choice. So let's make good choices. :)

Like I said...interesting week. Love yous!

Love,
    Sister Mullen

Wet New Zealand Winter

Kia Ora!

 

    I feel like the beginning of the transfer was going so slow, but now things are starting to pick up again. We had a good chat this week, don't know how it all started or anything, but we go into being saved by grace or by works. I've studied this so much and still don't have an answer that satisfies anyone, but at the same time, they have to be willing to receive the answer. So we got into judgement and all that stuff, and I spent a while trying to find a scripture in the Bible to satisfy her, but as I was looking through PMG, realized that almost all the scriptures for the Plan of Salvation were in the Book of Mormon. Realized how important the Book of Mormon is to teach us this plan, and I knew the Plan was important to teach to help the investigators understand why we need to be baptized and what we're working for, but I felt like it was the least important of them all because none of the Baptismal Interview Questions come directly from that lesson, but having this chat I realized why really do need to teach it...to clear things like being saved purely by grace up. Also, how important the Book of Mormon is. I finally started using scriptures from the Book of Mormon because that's what I'm here to do, to teach her the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon...not so much the Bible.

 

Saw the YSA from the Tongan ward and realized how much I miss them. Especially when they sang at the fireside last night. We sang a hymng from the Tongan hymnbook today for comp study and I said, "Why do we ever sing from the english hymnbook? They're so boring!" haha, I met a YSA from the Tongan ward for the first time last night. I knew who he was, but never officially met and he was trying to give me hard time for not knowing his name. Cheeky. And I asked why he goes to the Tongan ward because I remember him getting up to speak one time and he said, "I'm Tongan...but my Tongan is not so good." So he gave his talk in English. He said the Bishop is his Uncle. And then he said he should probably go to the English ward because he can't understand anything, but he loves the singing. I completely agree!

 

So we have this recent convert, Silvana, she's from Belgium and is the best. She got baptized when I was in the trio in march, so I was at her baptism. She was a miracle, got baptized 3 weeks after meeting the missionaries and is a dream come true of an investigator. She had surgery on her back and for a couple weeks she couldn't sit down for more than 20 minutes, she missed the first week of church after her surgery, but she was there the next week even though she had to stand for almost all of church and she said, "My Sunday just doesn't feel complete without church!" Oh my, we need her attitude to rub off onto the members. She was asking if there's anything she can do to help others without having a calling...I've been asking the ward mission leader every week to make sure she gets a calling & I'm frustrated with how nothing has happened yet. She's practically begging for a calling!!

 

So I was talking to an investigator and I asked how old she is, she's 20, and then I realized how old 22 is. That's a legit adult...which I am far from being. I'm the baby in the family and always will be...I still think I'm 19 or something sometimes. It was a sad realization yesterday how old I really am.

 

Those are my tales of the week. As I was flipping through our "Miracle Book" that we all got at Christmas (where everyone wrote in a miracle they've had) & realized how this really is a mission of miracles. Love it. Especially since it's so hard for Americans to get here now. What a blessing to be here! Love it. Love you all!

 

Ofa atu,

      Sister Mullen

I'm On A Mission. I've Been on a Mission for Ages Now and I'm One of the Old Ones. Weird.

Drum roll for transfers...still in Temple View, like I knew I was going to be. Took the Tongan Ward away. It was so SAD being in only palagi wards this week...the singing is pathetic! And the Tongan hymns are just more fun anyway. My companion is Sister Somma, she's from Italy. She's already been here 2 1/2 transfers, so I know her and it's been fun. Funny how with some companions you have more awkward/funny moments than with others. I think we're going to have lots of awkward/funny moments. We're doing this traning in all of our wards for the RS & priesthood about helping the members see how they can do missionary work and to get them excited, and we do a role play with a couple in the ward and when we were practicing with one couple...I said we were going to try to make this be natural & he said, "I've never seen a missionary be natural." I just DIED laughing because I've talking with these elders a lot about how awkward we are as misisonaries and how many awkward things you have to do. Speaking off...we were planning on using this sister who works at the Distribution Centre and we see all the time, I was planning on using her and her husband (or who I thought was her husband) because I ALWAYS see her with him. I saw on the ward roster that it didn't say she had a spouse, but I just thought the records were messed up, I knew he was a member, anyway, didn't think of all the options, so we caught her at the Distribution Centre and asked her if her and her husband could help us out & he said, "I don't have one of those!" Thankfully she was laughing, and I just said, "Oh whoops, sorry! Okay....bye! See you later!" There was NOTHING I could have said...so we just left. Oh my.

 

So we did that training in 2 wards yesterday, oh my...RS & priesthood can be a tough crowd! I've never taught any sort of a lesson before besides seminary & it just reminded me how I don't want to be a teacher...but I felt more comfortable doing it than I thought I would.

 

Interesting week with transfers. I really didn't want things to change, but once they did, I remembered that everything was going to be fine and I'll just go on being a missionary.

 

I had a really good study the other day where I really understood what it meant that the Book of Mormon really is evidence that we have a prophet today. It sounds dumb. And I already believed it before, but it was just made extra clear to me reading D&C 20: 10-12," Which was given by inspiration, and is confirmed to others by the ministering of angels, and is declared unto the world by them- Proving to the world that the holy scriptures are true, and that God does inspire men and call them to his holy work in this age and generation, as well as in generations of old; Thereby showing that he is the same God yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.:" I'm still struggling to be able to explain what I learned, and what the difference was of what I thought before and after...but all I know is that I know it without a doubt. I guess I just understand how important it was that we have the Book of Mormon as evidence today. Joseph Smith would still be a prophet without the Book of Mormon, but Heavenly Father knew how much the world today would need evidence. And how that is one of the main purposes of the Book of Mormon is to prove the "divinty of the latter-day work," but thankfully we can learn heaps from reading it too!

 

Lately I've done a lot of reflecting, maybe because Sister Perry went home last week, which was one of the saddest days of my mission, thank goodness she was in Hamilton so the Elders let us pick her up and take her to the bus stop (to go up to Auckland), and the way things worked out, we were able to talk for like half an hour. The mission is just over so fast! I've been thinking about how I came our here looking for no personal gain, but I am the one who has gained the most. I've also been able to see my patriarchal blessing take place in my life as a missionary in more ways than I even thought possible. I've been able to see how Heavenly Father needed me to come on a mission to become who I need to be. One kind of lame thing to admit is, as a missionary I've finally come to love the Ensign. I'll be honest, I don't think I've opened an Ensign besides for Conference. But now I can't get enough. July is about overcoming trials, being patient, trusting the Lord's will, and I just love it all! So much to read, and never enough time!

 

Uh-oh, did'nt even mention our baptism yesterday. So this girl has been living with this family for 4 years, and she is finally adopted and so she could finally get baptized. And I definitely felt the spirit there and could tell how long she had been waiting for this and it was finally possible! It was so fun to see it finally happen. We had so many people there we had to move it to the chapel. Loved it.

 

Ofa atu,

     Sister Mullen

 

PS Welcome to the family Sydney, even if you are a little one. Haha

I Believe in Miracles

I love miracles! That's all I can say, I thought I had had my share of miracles as a missionary and now I just need to pay the price for them, but they keep falling into our laps. We've been praying for a miracle and even though we dont' have anyone set for baptism for next week, we knew that we could have a baptism in July. And then last night we got a call from a member who said that the adoption of their daughter was now legal. We had dinner with them a month ago and said they're just waiting for the papers back so she could get baptized, and so we've patiently been waiting and they called us last night and said it's legal and they want her to be baptized next Monday! Yay! It was the best news we could hear after we found out that we're getting taken out of the Tongan Ward. I've been asked a lot of questions by different people, our Zone Leaders in particular about our area, and so I knew they were going to change up the areas at transfers. And then our ward mission leader in the Tongan ward told us yesterday, "I have bad news," but I had NO idea what it could be, and then he said, "they're bringing in elders." Noooooo! Ahh, miss em already. We were both going through withdrawals already. But it'll be good becuase I'm sure the elders will be Tongan speaking. I am so thankful I had my time in that ward, they're the best!

 

So this past week and a half we've been teaching the elders investigator because she decided she wanted to be taught by sisters, and it was so fun teaching her! She was so prepared! As a zone, we're also studying a Christlike attribute each week for 6 weeks, and last week was charity, and in this evaluation in PMG it says, "I find joy in others' success." And I remembered how there have definitely been times where I wasn't so happy for other missionaries because we're struggling severely in our area and didn't know what we were doing wrong, but with Clare, I didn't care that it didn't count for us as a baptism, but it was just exciting to see how they had found someone so prepared and I am so thankful we were able to be involved teaching her because she was just a delight. It was great. I can definitely see how much I was able to learn from that experience and being able to teach her.

 

So at different times in my mission, I've been asked what my favorite thing is about being a missionary, and I would say, "seeing people get baptized," but realized how generic that answer was and how I didn't really feel that was my favorite thing. And as I've been thinking about it, I decided my favorite thing about being a missionary is knowing that Heavenly Father is able to use me as an instrument to help others. It just feels so good at the end of the day to be able to look back and see that we were in the right place at the right time or said the right thing and that the Spirit was present and that we were able to help someone increase their faith. It really is the little day to day things that make it so rewarding.

 

 As I've been able to train Sister Chan, it's been cool to see where I was in the MTC and where I was at the beginning of my mission and how I was absolutely terrified of having to take the lead in everything and to have to take the lead in the lessons and how much I've grown from that point. I was going through my journal from the beginning of my mission (reading through journals is still one of my favorite things to do) and it was just cool to see how much I've grown and how my life will never be the same. I feel like my mission has been a whole new life within a life: starting out feeling like I have no idea what I'm doing and then growing so much to where I am now. I don't know how people make it through life without having the gospel, I can't even list or name the ways it has helped me in ways that I didn't even expect.  I love the Mormon Church. I love the Mormon Book. I love New Zealand. No place else I'd rather be!

 

Never know how my letters get so long.

 

Ofa atu!

      Sister Mullen

Tina, Eat The Food!

The weeks are going by way too fast now! It's all becoming a blur. So this past week, I feel like everyone has been trying to give us so much food, hence the title, "Tina, eat the food!" Because that's just how I feel. If you say no...they just keep offering. "Oh, why not? Just a muffin, are you sure you don't want a hot drink?" Even the palagis and the maoris. The islanders though, like I've said before, learned my lesson not to turn down food. We picked up some members to go with us to a lesson in the Tongan Ward, the lesson fell through, so they invited us in and I thought we'd be able to talk to the non-members there and set up a lesson. But it was to have some food. Ha. They gave each of us a large slice of banana cake, then they gave us a cup of milo. I was trying to balance it on my plate, but spilt a little, and then the member sitting next to me (the mum) kept tellin me to trade slices with her and to take her plate, I was confused, and then i finally asked if she didn't want her slice and she said, "Yours is wet!" and I said not to worry about it, so I finished my slice with milo on it, and then another member was telling one of the kids in Tongan to bring me another slice, so she did. And I had to eat it. Tongans, too funny.

 

I decided I could NEVER be Chinese. Did you know they don't even write the language that they speak? And it doesn't matter which direction they write in. The traditional Chinese Book of Mormon is written right to left and vertically, but when Sister Chan writes letters home, she writes horizontally and left to write. So confused. But I have been able to pick up phrases from the Chinese primary songs she has, and she taught me "The cheese is old and moldy," in cantonese, and now I can count to 10. I've learned the 4 mandarin tones, in Cantonese there are 7. She said she's going to teach me, but it sounds way to hard for me to remember. No wonder asians are so smart. It was been SO fun with Sister Chan lately. My love her has grown so much and also for asians, haha. Whenever we say asians, I try to guess where they are from, sometiems she can't even tell though. We were eating with members who just got some Chinese students, and this is the conversation we hear, "How do you say hi in Chinese?" "I think it's Ciao." "Isn't that food." Then I chime in , "Ni hao!" hahahaha, too funny. Especially since they just sent home another Chiense student...how did they not learn how to say hi?

 

In case anyone was wondering: they're going to have a rather large VC at the Rome temple. President Monson said, "Now I don't want a dinky Visitors' Centre in Rome!" And the sculpture who sculpted the Christus, dont' know if anyone knows, but he also made sculptures of the 12 apostles and the church is going to get replicas made to go into the Rome VC. Kind of cool. All of these originals or in a church in Denmark. The guy who came and did the training last week told us.

 

We had a really good companion study with our Zone Leaders last week. We were practicing teaching simply and it was a big wake up call to how complicated I make lessons. Even the lessons in Preach My Gospel have SO much information in there that can be over the investigators' heads. It was just what I needed because I feel like I've become pretty routine lately and I've hated it, so it helped me to see how I can change the way I teach and what I say.

 

Things are definitely slow right now, feel like I'm running out of ideas of how to get things done, but I still have so much to be happy about it. Funny how even though things aren't great in this area, I still have a strong love for this area. I guess it's a confirmation that I know that I'm supposed to be here...and I feel like I'll finish my mission in this area, ha. And I love all the missionaries I get to serve around, the sisters and the few elders we get to see.

 

Every time I talk to the Tongans, I love em more. We were talking to the first counselor in the Bishopric and he told us that Bishop challenged everyone in the Bishopric to invite one person to be taught by the missionaries. The counselor was quite excited and said they have a family that they're not that close to, but going to invite. And he said, "Everyone said 'yes' so we have to do it! Hopefully some good things start happening for yous!" Yes please! The way missionary work is supposed to be done.

 

Long letter. Sorry.

 

Ofa atu!

     Sister Mullen

A Cold Day In July

Malolelei!

 

My love for the Tongans really does grow each week. They really are so friendly and just a lovable people. For the record: almost all of them speak English. They have Sac Mtg in Tongan unless some of the youth or YSA get up to bare their testimony, then they speak in English. I think they do all the youth and definitely primary in English.

 

So we had a the head of some missionary department come to the VC and give a training to all the VC sisters and all the senior missionaries as well. The guy who did it was actually my stake president who interviewed me for my papers at BYU. It was so fun. He was literally running around the VC acting like an obnoxious 10 year old while Sister Chan and I were doing a role play trying to teach him mum. I learned a lot and the timing of that was definitely a tender mercy becuase it's just what I needed to hear after having a not-so-good week. Just good to remember how important our job is at the VC. I definitely underestimate that sometimes. It was also good to just get training on being at the VC. I mean, yeah, I stayed in Provo another week for VC training...but it really wasn't anything special. But from what Sister Chan did in her extra week at the MTC, it sounds like they're doing more now.

 

So in honor of all the sisters getting a cell phone this week, I made up a song to "You've had a Birthday" or whatever that song is called:

We got a cell phone, shout hooray. We want to text to you today. One more number and easy to call. We've got a cell phone, to-day.

 

At first I didn't want the cell phone. That's something I've loved about being a missionary is not having to worry about my phone and just remembering how much time I wasted texting or things like that, haha, but now that we've had it, I've also remembered how much easier it is to contact people when we have a phone, or for them to call us. The thing in NZ is that it costs extra to call a mobile from a landline or vice versa. So some people couldn't call us because they only had a cell phone, besides the fact that everyone here almost NEVER has minutes to call, so they can only text. So it'll be nice to be able to text now.

 

So the other day, I was walking upstairs from the kitchen with another sister after we finished lunch, and she jokingly said, "stop following me" so then I turned my 10-year-old-me and started following her and copying her for a little bit, and after I stopped she said, "Sister Mullen...you seem so serious and responsible sometimes and to say, "that's not appropriate" (PS I've never said that to anyone) ...but you're really not." I didn't know I seem so serious sometimes, but like she said...I'm really not. I guess I still need to work on bringing out my personality more.

 

Just a little bit about chats, I don't know if I talk much about chats: but we had a guy come on wanting to learn more b/c he supports Mitt Romney, but then he really disagreed with our beliefs of the Godhead vs. the Trinity. And then he asked the bold question, "So do you think I'm wrong?" and "Do you think all other churches are wrong?" So we tactfully answered his questions ,but then he turned around and said we were a cult and we saw him starting to type "I will not vote for Mitt Romney" but then he actually never sent it (we can we what they're typing, but they don't know that, hehe). But then the next guy we had was a return investigator. Been taught everything, but could never commit to baptism, but wants to meet with missionaries again. Just goes to show the wide range of people we meet on there!

 

PS started memorizing my Patriarchal Blessing, and just as I've memorized scriptures too, I've come to see how I understand things in a different way when I memorize them. Just reminds me of Elder Scott's talk from October Conference about the pwoer of memorizing scriptures. I'm all for it!

 

Ofa atu,

     Sister Mullen