November 28, 2016

Kia ora whanau!! 

This week has been pretty neat, I tell you what. 

One of our investigators was out street performing on Saturday and he's so good! We were trying to street contact by the lake and he's jammin out with his guitar and singing reggae music in his poncho and so it made it real difficult to hear people but I still can't get over how good he was. 

We went to a dorm/hostel for a lesson with Tommy (from Nigeria) and we sat down in the kitchen and living room so it was kinda weird because there were 3 or 4 other people in the room too. In the middle of the lesson, a Vietnamese man came in and sat down and asked, "Do you understand the Bible in English?" 

"Yeah we do!" 

"Can you teach me more about Jesus?" 

We have no idea how he knew that we were there but we taught him on Saturday and then on Sunday, we taught him again and he brought his friend with him! 

So we're winning the missionary game. 

Love you all! 

Love,

Elder Benjamin

November 21, 2016

Kia ora whanau!! 

I don't have much to say, but if you vote for me, all of your wildest dreams will come true. 

Really though, we just did a lot of finding this week. Visiting formers and potentials, street contacting, putting our names on a list a funeral home, all the good stuff. We meet people from all over the world here and it's such a cool thing! Egypt, Nigeria, Tonga, Samoa, India, Brazil, Costa Rica, Germany, France, Sweden, Korea, China, Australia, Colombia, Canada, USA. So I'm basically a tourist, in a white shirt and tie, in one of the most beautiful places on earth, teaching people about Jesus Christ on the streets, trying to be louder than the street performers. It's so much fun. 

This week, I was called on to use the priesthood. The experience is too sacred to share but suffice it to say that I know that the priesthood I hold is real and that it came from God. I know that it was restored to the earth through Heavenly Messengers to the prophet Joseph Smith. 

I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Benjamin

Mosiah 18:30

Kia ora whanau!! 

P was baptized this week!! The font was a portable one in an industrial part of town so that was real cool. It was one of the most peaceful baptisms I've ever been a part of. My companion baptized him and I was able to confirm him on Sunday. Such a blessing. I'm so grateful to have been an instrument in the hand's of God. 

We saw D again this week. At the end of his lesson, he asked us how he can continue progressing. 

Today is the first day of transfer 2 in Queenstown! Elder T and I are still here together. 

Sorry I don't have much else to say. I literally can't remember what happened last week. 

Love,

Elder Benjamin 

Mormon 9:11

Kia ora whanau!! 

This week was *literally* the fastest week of my life. It drives me crazy that the time goes by so fast! It almost feels like I don't have enough to enjoy it. And to top it all off, I had a dream that I was coming into the SLC airport at the end of the mission and Matt, Stockton, Preston, Tyler, Isaac, basically everyone from Viewmont was coming home at the same time and I spent what felt like 30 minutes just wondering where the time went and being so upset about it being gone. 

But then I woke up and it's P-day so I'm still winning the missionary game. 

We got an on-line referral this week! We went to go visit her and we found her and her husband. They're from Columbia and they're looking for a church and to be a part of a community more than they are. They were so excited to "listen to the word of God" ( aka the Restoration)! It's amazing how well God prepares his children. And I couldn't help but think, "Ya know, I bet Austin and Phillip had stuff like this happen a couple times every week in Peru." 

We've been working with P quite a lot but he's always sleeping when we go see him.  But when he was awake, he told us, "Just wake me up!" Then we realized that we could've had about 4 more lessons with him over the past 2 weeks if we would've done that... soo.... but HE came to church this Sunday as well!! HE stayed for the whole thing even though he wasn't feeling well and he should be getting baptized this Saturday. Pray that things go well. It's also a bit difficult because the closest font is 2 hours away and the lake is too cold for him so we're looking for options. Pray that things work out! 

The work is good. God is good. Elder T's cookies are good. 

Love you all! 

Love,

Elder Benjamin 

1 Nephi 1:20

Kia ora whanau!! 

Such a fast week! I tell you what. We had zone training in Gore, we moved flats this week, and we had a Stake Conference in Dunedin! 

Zone training was great. We talked about teaching skills and Faith in Christ. One of the questions we were asked was, "What are you going to do because of your faith in Chirst?" Elder T and I talked quite a lot about that on the way home and we both felt a strengthened desire to give everything we have to the work. 

We taught D and K again this week and tried to set a date with them. They're so ready. They were a little weary about how soon we wanted to baptize them but they said they want to pray about it. They've been praying about it all weekend. We're excited to see where they go. They're so well prepared. 

Because Dunedin is so far away, they try to broadcast stake conference but the broadcast didn't work out so we drove up and spent most of Saturday and Sunday at the meetings and travelling. IT's about 3 1/2 hours from Queenstown to Dunedin. My favorite part of the meeting was being able to see all my friends from Oamaru again. I saw the Smiths, the Kaufanas, the Kautais. It felt like coming home. I love them all so much. It was such a blessing to be able to spend a bit of time with them again. 

I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Benjamin

October 24, 2016

Kia ora whanau!! 

This week went by so fast. It all seems like bit of a blur. I went on an exchange with Elder Richardson in Gore, the country music and brown trout fishing capital of New Zealand, this week. While there, we taught a lesson to a part-member couple.  M is investigating and has a baptismal date but told us that she was worried about what her family was going to think. We taught her about the Atonement and how her Savior had the Spirit withdraw from Him so that he would know how the rest of us would feel when we're forsaken. 

We also taught that opposition allows us to exercise and grow our faith and that God won't let us be temped more than we can withstand. 

We told her that it has to be her choice and we asked her what she wants to do. 

"I think I want to be baptized." 

It blows me away that I was trusted to be a part of her progression. It also surprised me how much love I felt for the both of them. I know Heavenly Father loves his children. 

On Saturday, we were street-contacting and that was neat. We meet people literally from all over the world: Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Nepal, USA. We ran into a lot of members and one family shouted us lunch. Another brought their left-over groceries to church and gave them to us. So basically, the church is really true in Queenstown. 

We were teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a member family, and one of their sons said the third part is, "Baptism by emergency for the gift of the Holy Ghost."

I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Benjamin 

October 17, 2016

Kia ora whanau! 

So we had a pretty neat week. I tell you what. 

On Wednesday when we got back from district meeting and were at our chapel for a minute (or maybe it was Thursday..), we felt like we should go and see P. He just moved to the old-folks home on the street the chapel is on because his health is failing. He's not quite 50 so it's sad to see him so sick but I believe that his afflictions have softened him up a bit to the gospel. While we went in to visit him, after talking for a minute he said to us, "I prayed to see if your church was good." We asked how it went and he said he felt like he wanted to run and jump like a little boy because of the joy that came into him. You know where the feeling came from? The Holy Ghost. 

D and K came to church again this week! They told us earlier in the week that they felt like they should put more emphasis on reading and on Sunday, because they had, I could see the difference in them. They had questions, they felt the spirit at church, and they even had some of the answers! Doug had done some reading online about us and had a question about the Word of Wisdom so that's what we taught them during second hour. You wanna know the best part? They were already living it. "Will you keep living the word of wisdom?" So cool. 

We told D to be careful about the anti-mormon stuff on the internet but he said, "Oh yeah I'm not worried about that. I think you can tell about an organization by the enemies it has." 

We had visitors in church from Perth and I thought, "Hey that's where Annie served! Maybe they know her." So I told them that Sister Tanner had served in Perth and they said, "She got married didn't she?" 

"Yeah to Elder Gardner from the same mission!"

Then the mom said, "He was the one that found and taught me." 

It's a small world and Heavenly Father loves his children. 

I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Benjamin