Pictures

 Mission Photo

 With the Young Women on Splits

 "I love to see the temple"

"I work there many days"

Happy Auckland Anniversary Day!

...just like most holidays here, no one seems to know why they celebrate it, but lots of businesses close down and everyone goes to the beach! Haha, apparently there is a Wellington Day too...they've just got random holidays all over the place.

 

It's been another good week, except I can't seem to remember much of what happened...my companion put it a good way, "Once monday is here...friday is here, but Saturday & Sunday are each a week long." Saturdays can be so long being in the VC for 6 hours. On Saturday, one couple stopped in because they saw the temple (it really is cool where it's placed...it's far from the city, so just out in the country with a bunch of green hills, but it's on a hill, so you can see it sticking out above everything from far away) & thought it looked gorgeous! The tour with them started off good teaching them about the history of the church in New Zealand, but then when we got into the second room (all about Christ...it's got the Christus and pictures of Christ on the walls) it turned out to be not so good. They've defintiely had contact with the church and the guy had a Book of Mormon, but after sharing my testimony of the Book of Mormon and how I know without a doubt that it's true, they wanted to debate me, "how can you know "without a doubt" that it's true?" They were going into how we don't know exactly where it all happened, but for the bible we know where some of those places are. & It seems a bit fishy that some guy got some plates, "translated" them and then showed em to a few friends. This couple just wanted concrete proof of the Book of Mormon instead of exercising some faith. & then he tried to tell me I've been taught what to believe. I left after that because we were done with our shift at the VC, but after talking to the Sister who finished the tour, she said that they told her "We'll pray for you because you have all deceived." That never puts a smile on my face, but experiences like that never shake my faith. They're actually just good reminders of my testimony and how solid it is. I know what I have come to find out is true and there's no one who can take that away from me.

 

We had a good lesson with this girl we met at church a couple weeks ago. She's been to the LDS church several times throughout her whole life, and we met her at church w/ her cousin who got baptized a year ago. We taught her the first half of the restoration the other day, and then last night she came up to the VC where we finished it off and had her watch the hour long Joseph Smith movie and the Spirit was definitely present! Before the movie, we invited her to be baptized after she came to know if these things are true and she was so anxious to say yes! She's preparing for the 11th, but is afraid it'll be too soon, but she's so prepared and I know she'll be ready! She's 20 and cute and a hip hop dancer and I'm a little bit jealous, ha, but I'm so glad we found her!

 

...I don't know what happened to the funny stories. People I guess are just not so crazy here in Hamilton. Lame.

 

Love you! Hope you have a good week!

 

Love,

      Sister Mullen

"...Quentin L. Cook is from Cache Valley..."

(I doubt anyone else knows that song to help you remember the apostles in order, I learned it my last year and seminary, that's what Quentin L. Cook has said about him.) I think I said something last week, but we had a missionwide Conference last week and it was awesome! Awesome to be reunited with the missionaries I served with from Tauranga, & it was just a fun atmosphere being with so many missionaries. The chapel was PACKED with missionaries. The missionaries from the MTC came too, and we had Elder Cook, Tad R. Callister, Bishop McMullin from the presiding bishopric, & Elder Hamula & Elder Watson from our area presidency and all their wives and it was so good! They each got up and told us something to not forget or something to wrok on as a missionary and then Elder Cook talked for a bit and yeah, it was just a good meeting.

 

So now that the excitement of being somewhere new has died down, it's taking a little adjusting having so much down time being here at teh VC so much, but I had a cool experience while I was on chat the other day with a girl named Helen. She came on askinng questions about where in the Bible does it talk about our Heavenly Mother and the pre-mortal existence, she was getting ready for baptism last saturday and said these were holding her back, but apparently I was really able to help her and she said that she's asked other people but no one else has been able to explain them as well as I did. It just felt SO good to really help someone and to feel like she really did need to talk to me specifically.

 

So as I've been trying to finish the Book of Mormon in January, I finished the war chapters on Saturday and I have just come to love them! I used to not really enjoy those chapters because they were long and hard to follow, but I decided that the best way to read them is to just read them through them all at once so you can keep track (or at least try to!) of everything. I've also come to see how much you really can learn from them, I've come to LOVE the story of the strippling warriors and just love Moroni! He's just so hard core and so confident in the Lord!

 

Nothing else too exciting, I feel like the people are a lot more normal here than in Tauranga, haha, but at the same time we still meet our fair share of interesting people. We have two people getting ready for baptism this Saturday and are praying for miracles because we definitely need the Lord's help to make sure they're ready. Love you all!

 

Love,

    Sister Mullen

Still Out of Titles...

And another week has gone, wow, things really are starting to fly by!

 

So the main event this week was that we had a wedding a two baptisms! So we first had Malia who got married to her less active partner, and then an hour later they got baptized and it was so good. She's pregant, and apparently was having contractions during their reception (but didn't tell anyone), and we showed up to church on Sunday ready for her to be confirmed, and Bishop told us she went straight to the hospital after the reception and had her baby that night, so hopefully she'll be able to make it to church next week to receive the Holy Ghost. Definitely a day she'll never forget! Then Saturday night we had Niels (yes, with an s!) We were getting ready to push his baptism to the next week because we didnt' feel like his testimony was where it should be, mostly because we asked him "So what does it mean to you that we have a prophet on the earth today?" & he said, "Nothing." But once we explained more about the role of our prophet, it cleared things up for him so much and we felt like he was ready! The only stressful thing was that we showed up and Bishop said that Anaru, the guy we talked to to baptized Niels, wasn't going to be able to make it, but we just found someone else to baptize him, thankfully, and it all ended up going really well. I've never had one of our investigators get up and share their testimony after their baptism, but he said he wanted to, but then almost backed out last minute, but then decided to go ahead and do it and it was such a powerful testimony and just so humbling that we were able to help teach him all of what he now knows to be true.

 

Things are a little crazy here with spending half our time at the VC & we have so many people who are willing to set up appointments for us to come back, so we really have to focus on those that are elect and progressing because we jsut don't have time! I came into Hamilton feeling a little more confident, having some experience like I've got the hang of somethings as a missionary, but then over the past week especially I've had a big smack in the face realizing how much I have to learn and improve on. Sometimes I wonder how I've helped anyone prepare and be ready to be baptized because my teaching skills have so much room for improvement, but then I remember that it's not really me teaching, it's the Spirit. Thankfully. Haha

 

Oh, a little change we had this week was we have a new elder here at the VC. He was serving in Sydney, but is waiting for some health problems to clear up, so in the mean time, he's here at the VC almost all day, every day. Poor guy, haha, except he's from Hamilton, so he sees seen tons of people that he knows. Anyway, it's just different having an elder here with us.

 

Love you all! Hope things are going well.

 

Love,

     Sister Mullen

Pictures

I'm Out Of Titles For This Week...

Kia Ora! (I'm actually starting to hear that a lot more here, haha) It has been a really good week! Even though it's been pretty chilly and quite rainy for being the middle of summer, it's still been good. First off: who knew that I would meet heaps of people from New Caledonia here in NZ? The only reason I've heard of New Caledonia before is b/c I think there's a song on Guitar Hero named that, maybe, haha. Anywho, there are tons of people here from New Caledonia for 3 weeks to go to the temple, kinda cool. It's been really cool as we've been contacting referrals we've got from people who came to see the lights, whether they were self referrals for memebers referring their friends (mostly self referrals) & they are defintiely some people who are prepared to hear about the gospel! One is a cousin of some less actives, but apparently she's been to church the last two weeks, we've only met her once, but she's getting ready to be baptized in 3 weeks! We met with two other people, one is a less active, but his partner is not, and we finally caught them at home yesterday and she said she's been waiting for us to come by because she really wants to read the Book of Mormon, I'm excited to have a lesson with them tonight. Another miracle is a guy that my comp met when we went on splits, he came to church yesterday, & we didn't have time to have lesson with him yesterday because we had church til 4, then followed up with some people, then had dinner, and then had to be at the VC from 6-9, but he was so anxious to meet with his, so he came up to the VC and we had a little lesson and he is just ready to leave his life of sin behind and to move on & he's set to be baptized in 3 weeks as well! We also have several YSA girls in one of our wards who are so willing to come out with us, it's been such a blessing! So we cover 3 wards, but only have half the time to proselyte, so we were able to go on splits b/c we have so many girls who are willing to come out with us! We also went on splits for half of the day yesterday so I could go to the Nawton ward at 11 and Sister Clark could go to the Dinsdale ward at 1, I've met like 3 people in the Nawton ward, and most of the investigators who were planning on coming to church, Sis. Clark met them when we were on splits, so I didn't know who to look for. Anywho, I was just walking along the back row of the chapel and introducing myself to everyone and standing at the door to meet more people and I just thinking how I would never ever ever do that in one of my BYU wards or anywhere for that matter, I decided that's something Ally would never do, but Sister Mullen can and does, haha, funny how some things completely different as a missionary.

 

It's different having so much free time at the VC, especially the first couple of days it was so slow, and so I was able to read lots of the Book of Mormon, which might have been the reason why I made it a goal to read the Book of Mormon 12 times this year, hahahaha, except now that things are picking up, I'm realizing that goal may not be so realistic, haha. Friday & Saturday we had weddings, so there were lots of people here. It was so fun to see the brides come out. & It really is such a blessing to be at the temple every day. Especially b/c the view from the VC, well the wall is pretty much all windows, so you just get to stare at the temple all the time and I love it! I love being able to have lessons here because we have so many resources to help us teach. We are so spoiled.

 

This week I was able to re-read Elder Bednar's talk on tender mercies from the second Conference he spoke at and I just LOVE that talk, and so I've really been looking for tender mercies we've been receiving everyday and I've been able to see how much the Lord really is involved in our day. Everything that happens to go just right is a tender mercy and I am so thankful for how much the Lord is willing to help us! So I hope you all are noticing the tender mercies throughout your day! Love you all!

 

-Sister Mullen

 

PS I attached some pics of the temple lights. Thankfully, we were here last night, we were able to see them one more time before they're done for the year (since it's been so slow this week, they didn't have any of us here at night to do tours).

Transfers!

Drum roll for the result of transfers....I'm in Hamilton at the VC! I got here just in time to see the lights for a couple of nights! So Sister Perry & I both got transferred out of Tauranga, I'm not okay with the fact that Elders are now in that area and they have a car and one of the flashest flats in the mission. They better take care of it, haha. So my new comp is Sister Clark, she's from Minnesota. So this past week, we've come into the VC at 9 & stay til 10:30, or go home earlier if they don't need us (we just do 15 minutes tours though the VC), have a slightly adjusted schedule b/c we don't go to bed til 11:30ish and so we can sleep in til 7:30ish. We cover 3 wards, slightly chaotic trying to keep track of names and what investigators are in what ward, but it'll be good. The wards are quite large, especially comapred to the ward and the branch we covered in Tauranga, but it just means heaps of fellowship! & from what I can tell, there are so awesome people who are willing to help us out. So we have more to choose from than 5 ladies in the ward, haha. Once again, I'm so spoiled, we are still in a car, and in one of the flashest flats in the mission. We even have a dryer AND an air conditioner--woot woot! No one has a/c or central heating here in NZ. So our schedule with the VC is we are online chatting for 2 hours a day, and then working in the VC for 3 hours, so it leaves very little time for proselyting, which means things are a little crazy, but we are so blessed to be able to fill up our limited time with appointments, and then on Saturdays, we're at the VC for 6 hours since it's usually busier on Saturdays. It's been pretty slow during the day since I've been here, so I've been watching heaps of mormon messages and "I'm a Mormon" videos to get familiar with things. NZ is one of 2 VCs were we have this little exhibit where you can watch the I'm a Mormon videos. They've got an iPad, and you just go through it to pick what you want, and then watch it on the TV right there, it's pretty cool. I've only been on chats once, but I had some cool experiences. Some people are dumb (inevitably) like tryig to ask me out b/c I "seem like a girl with a good head on her shoulder", but then one girl was talking to me about how she doesn't feel ready for her baptism in 2 weeks, and it was cool to be able to talk to her. I've never really shared my testimony while chatting, but it's fun! haha, & while we're on chat, we can also go anywhere on mormon.org or lds.org to look up videos or articles or talks to send to them. I hardly feel like a missionary sometimes, haha. Oh! & one of the couples here are from Clinton, UT. I remember Uncle Greg telling me he knew someone was going there, but he didn't know their name, I think they're from Aunt Dianne's neighboring ward or something. & They also lived in EP for 6 weeks because they were adopting a baby from Juarez (I've never heard of that before, haha). With access to show much here at the VC, I hardly feel like a missionary sometimes, haha. Like being able to watch videos online and stuff. It's quite different b/c it is so slow and we're not always on the go, but it's fun. I've already had a cool experience with this girl who came in. She's living with a less active member, and knows so much about the church, but has been wanting to come to the VC for ages and finally made it!

 

So our miracle of the week was actually Thursday night, a few hours after I got here, we were walking down the street, Sister Clark saw a door open, so we went and talked to the lady there, & she invited us in right away. We taught her a little lesson, made plans to come back on Saturday. On Saturday, we finished the Restoration, taught her about chrch, and she was so excited to come! We asked her why she let us in on Thursday, and she said, "I don't know, I never do that!" But she is golden and so ready! The Spirit was so strong at the end of the lesson, I just knew it was right to invite her to be baptized in 3 weeks, so I did, and she said yes! Holla! She came to church, loved it, and really connected with the members we asked to pick her up. We found out yesterday after church that she is living with someone though, so we'll have to work on getting her married or moving out, but she's so ready I know it's all going to work out!

 

It was actually really sad leaving Tauranga and saying bye to Chrissie who just got baptized, and some of the members, but I'm excited to be in a new area! Love you all and hope you have a good week!

 

Love,

    Sister Mullen

 

PS I took a picture of the lights, but forgot my camera cord, so I'll send it to you next week.

Pictures

 our two baptizees on Saturday. Yes, I dressed festively. And because I was wearing a white skirt, I felt like I was the girl wearing white on my friend's wedding day, hahaha.

 these are hats Sister Perry's parents sent us. Last minute, we decided to make little Christmas cards with this picture on them and decided to give them to some people in the ward. Everyone got a kick out of em, haha. This is how I will be remembered in Tauranga.

Christmas morning. Complete with a singing Justin Bieber toothbrush. Ridiculous that exists. Awesome that it was one of my Christmas presents.

Happy Boxing Day!

Merry Christmas in the states! Not gonna lie, it was weird talking half of you and saying you went to church today because I would think, "but it's Monday!" So some of this might be a repeat for those who I already talked to. We had our 2 baptisms on Saturday. It was a crizazy morning, but it all ended up going well. Long story short, we didn't have someone come to start filling up the font til 9:45, the baptism started at 11, & apparently it takes 1 hr & 45 min to fill the font, so Sister Perry and I were in the bathroom filling up buckets in the sinks to fill up the font faster. & one investigator was late. STRESS! But it happened. It's all good, & they were both so happy! It was such a fun day!

One thing I didn't tell anyone was that Sister Perry and I moved our mattresses into the living room for Christmas Eve so we could have a slumber party by the tree...and the slumber party happened again last night. Pretty sure we'll be having a slumber party all week :)

Christmas Eve the weather was beautiful! We went caroling that night with the Elders, but they didn't know any of the caroling songs like Rudolph, Up on the House Top, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, so they weren't much help. One is from NZ, one is from Australia, & they asked us, "is this something you do in the states?" They're a little out of the loop b/c it's not like any of the families we went and saw were confused or anything about what we were doing.

For Christmas we had only 2 feeds (thank goodness), the first family was a little awkward (leave it to the white people to be a little awkward, haha), the second family was way chill and fun. Definitely one of my favorite families in the ward. Karaoke was included, it was awesome. Obviously I need to try to be on my best behavior as a missionary because who knows who is watching us, but it was so fun to do something fun and not care what anyone thought. (Obviously singing is not my forte...I don't think it's a mystery that I'm better at Just Dance than High School Musical Sing It!, haha). Anywho, we were a little bit worried about how Christmas was just gonna be weird, but it ended up being so fun!

I hope you all had/have a good Christmas! Love you all! Talk to you next year! I can't believe it's the end of the year and I can't believe it's 2012. Craziness!

1st pic: Christmas morning. Complete with a singing Justin Bieber toothbrush. Ridiculous that exists. Awesome that it was one of my Christmas presents.

2nd pic: these are hats Sister Perry's parents sent us. Last minute, we decided to make little Christmas cards with this picture on them and decided to give them to some people in the ward. Everyone got a kick out of em, haha. This is how I will be remembered in Tauranga.

3rd pic: our two baptizees on Saturday. Yes, I dressed festively. And because I was wearing a white skirt, I felt like I was the girl wearing white on my friend's wedding day, hahaha.