Transfers

Kia Ora Whanau! 

Most of our members are at the temple this week so it was fairly slow. It was still good though! We were able to talk with quite a few new people and I'm always a little surprised at how nice the kiwis are on the south island. It's pretty neat. 

We had a district meeting with President and Sister Hudson on Thursday. In my interview, President told me that I'm going to get a new companion! Elder M I have no idea where he's from but I'm really excited for the change! Elder F is going to a Samoan ward in Porirua. My new district leader is Elder A! 

I'm not sure if I said this last week but President promised us that if we talk with everyone, ask for referrals 100% of the time, we'll get 2 new investigators a week which will give us one baptism a transfer. It was a really special thing he promised our mission and it struck me at how simple it really was. 

The church is true. 

Love you all!

Love,

Elder Benjamin

Christchurch

Kia ora whanau!! 

What a week. Oh my life. 

I'll talk about R first. Elder Osburn texted us on Saturday and said that R had moved out from her partner and was staying with the Osburns until they figured something else out. He said we could plan on baptizing her in our ward in a couple weeks!! Then, as Elder Osburn drove us to the library this morning, he told us that she's moving back to the farm. Not back in with her partner, but back into the other ward. I have no words. The first time we found out she was moving killed me and then I had been telling our members that R was back and we were gonna have a baptism!! Then, for the second time, we found out that she's moving to the other ward. It's either laugh or cry at this point and crying would be pretty embarrassing because I'm in the library. So I'm laughing about it. 

The Osburns are a senior couple in the mission in my area. They've helped me and all the other missionaries so much. They give support and help that no 19 or 20 year old missionary can give just because they have so much more life experience. So all of you that are married and older and stuff, please give serious thought to serving a senior mission. 

We had a special zone conference up in Christchurch this week and we had a lot of people speak to us. The Reeve's, the McConkie's, The Pearson's. There were a lot of tears. Such a strong spirit was there. My favorite was Elder Pearson though. He told us a story about his mission in Helsinki, Finland. He was getting a new companion, Joe Pratt, and it was Elder Pratt's last transfer. The first thing Elder Pratt did when he got off the train was grab Elder Pearson by the lapels and said something like this, "Elder Pearson. I have one transfer left and I haven't brought anyone into the fold of God on the mission. I cannot leave without baptizing somebody. Will you do whatever it takes with me this last transfer??" 

They went back to the flat and prayed and talked and prayed more. They worked harder than they ever had. They made a goal to have someone ready for baptism before Elder Pratt left on the plane. Elder Pratt rode away on the train before they found someone, but Elder Pearson did the same thing to his new companion. When they got back to the flat, their bishop had left a note on their door telling them to come over. His son had been reading the book of Mormon and knew it was true. They taught him all the lessons in a row and Elder Pearson looked at his watch. Elder Pratt hadn't left on the plane yet. 

I keep going back to the question he asked, "What desirest thou?" It's all I can think about and I'm very very inspired. 

Love you all!

Love,

Elder Benjamin 

June 12, 2016

Kia Ora Whanau!! 

I think I talked a little bit about how I'd been having a rough couple weeks in my last email. I'm doing a lot better now though! I had been praying for help and I was expecting to feel an overwhelming feeling of love and acceptance to bring me up. That's what I had always experienced before on the mission. So I was waiting for that but it never really came. I was able to learn that sometimes the Lord's power of deliverance isn't always manifest in grandiose ways, it can come in a subtle feeling of peace that slowly seeps into our lives. It was almost like He said to me, "Jared, you have permission to be happy. Just choose to be okay and you will be. I've given you all the help you need." 

We started a new way to ask for referrals by going through all the people our members know in their families and work and school and facebook to see who's not a member and then committing them to pray about who to start working with. We get anywhere from 20-100 names with each family!! Not all referrals of course, but potentials! I'm really excited for this to play out. 

Love you all! 

Love,

Elder Benjamin

June 6, 2016

Kia Ora Whanau!! 

I just finished the Book of Mormon and I prayed and asked Heavenly Father if it's true. I already know that it is but I think it's always a good idea to renew and refresh our testimonies to strengthen them. I had been waiting for an answer for a couple weeks now and hadn't had it yet. I also had been having a rough couple weeks. I think I wrote in my journal something like this, "I feel like Satan is grabbing the hand of my thoughts and is hitting me with it over and over saying, 'Why are you hiitng yourself?'"

As I was reading in 2nd Nephi chapter 4, I read about where Nephi talks about the wretched man that he is. How he desires to rejoice but he remembers his mistakes. I had been having a rough couple weeks and the words really stuck out to me. It was almost like Nephi had written them for me. As I kept reading, the Lord reminded me to "remember in whom I have trusted" and have more faith. It was such a blessing. I was able to have the assurance that the Book of Mormon was true and have a little encouragement from the Lord to keep trying. 

We found out that our investigator  has moved into the other ward in Oamaru. It ruined my day. I was so excited to be able to get a baptism (because she committed to it last week!) It was hard for me to find this out but I've been blessed to feel peace as we've been working on the transition between missionaries. And as long as she gets baptized, that's really what matters. 

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Benjamin