August 30, 2015

We finished up the MTC last week and left at 6:30 AM on Tuesday to fly out to Wellington. I met President Hudson and his wife in the airport and they're super nice people. We went to a chapel (none of the buildings here have central heating so they're all freezing) and we had an orientation about the mission I guess. They told 4 of the 16 in my intake that we're expected to drive from day one. So, they took me out driving in Wellington that day and it's all screwy because it's on the left side of the road. I've been driving around every day. It's honestly kind of scary. But, I haven't been on the right side of the road more than once or twice.. :)

My companion's Tongan. He was born in Tonga but he moved to Auckland when he was 7 ish and so he speaks English and he's super great. He's really helpful with answering my questions and making me feel loved and accepted. Like I seriously couldn't have asked for a better companion. He said his name actually means bad day which is awesome because his name means bad day. AND. He likes running. So that's cool. 

We live in a pretty big flat with just the two of us and I super like it. I don't actually have any pictures though because I just figured out how to use the camera yesterday and we couldn't take any in the MTC. 

We've done a lot of service already which is cool because service. We did some at the Salvation Army which is basically DI, New Zealand style. One of the things they had us do was break down furniture with a sledgehammer to fit inside the garbage so that was pretty neat. :) 

We spend most of our time going and visiting people. There's about 200 people in our ward, but only about 40 of them are active in the church, so we have a lot of work to do. The ward seriously is tiny. They had me introduce myself and bear my testimony, we blessed the sacrament, and then we taught two boys Sunday school. After church, the bishop invited us over for lunch and his wife asked us if we could teach primary in a few weeks so it looks like I'll be plenty busy in this ward. Plus, I offered to the bishop that I'm willing to speak any time and I'm hoping he doesn't take me up on that..

We've spent a few hours knocking doors and street contacting and it's kind of really intimidating to introduce myself and the gospel to people I don't know, but they're all really nice, even though we get turned down by almost everyone. 

I'm really grateful to Heavenly Father for taking such good care of me. The members feed us about 5 times a week, the food is way better than the MTC, my companion is such a big help, I see prayers getting answered all the time, I feel His love when we go and visit people, and I love my time studying in the morning. 

Thank you all so much for the prayers and support! 

Love, Elder Benjamin 

PS They're making a Tongan ward and since my companion speaks Tongan, we might be assigned to work in that ward. This is 100% speculation, but it could possibly be a thing. 

First Email Home

Hey everyone!

I made it through the first few days! As soon as I went through security, I met an elder from Provo and he was going to Wellington as well. By the time we got to the gate, we had something like 6 other elders flying out with us. SLC to LA was a super short flight, and then we had a layover for 3 hours. The flight from LA to Auckland was about 13 hours long. 13 hours. But, I slept for about 8 hours of it so that was pretty dope.

Once we landed and made it through customs, there was an Islander there to pick us up and he was huge! Like 6'6" and 320 pounds huge. He loaded us up in the van and they drive on the wrong side of the road too! It super scares me to drive because of that. Like a lot.

The MTC is so crazy. We have something like 10 hours of class every day. The Spirit is so strong here. That confidence I was blessed with after being set apart is so much stronger now that I'm in the MTC and starting to learn how to be a missionary. We do a lot of role play, which is super awkward when other people are watching you, but I found that if I really dive into it, if I try to see them as investigators, that the Spirit just overwhelms me and I know what to say. I have scriptures come to mind, I can bear testimony easily, and I say what the investigator needs to hear.

One of  our teachers is crazy. She's kind of like if Breanna came from a Pacific island. My district was getting tired in one of our classes, and she had us play head shoulders knees and toes but we had to do the actions on our companion.

The first day I got here, the president asked me and my companion to be zone leaders. Because the MTC is so small, there's only two ZLs and I guess I was lucky enough to be one of them. It's really overwhelming, but it just kinda feels right to be serving the other missionaries. One of the best experiences with serving was last night in a class, a Sister started talking about her family and it made one of the Elders cry because he was so homesick. I felt like I should go up to him after and talk to him. I ended up sharing Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-9 with him and then asked him if he wanted a blessing. He did, so we took him into a classroom, said a prayer, and two other elders and I laid our hands on his head and gave him a priesthood blessing. I loved being able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands.

My companion is from Provo, he plays the violin and piano, he was a math sterling scholar, and he can speak Spanish. He played football, and danced ballroom. So basically, he's the most well rounded person I know. He's getting to know all the other missionaries so well and he loves the gospel.

The food here isn't bad, but it's not that good either. They do different things like spaghetti for breakfast or put tuna in pasta salad. Or make fish and chips that have an aftertaste of the cabin water. But I'm hoping the food will be better when I'm in the field.

Most of the time, I love it here. The spirit is strong, I'm learning a ton, I'm studying well, my prayers are more sincere, and it's just great.

I love you all and hope you're doing well!

Love, Elder Benjamin