Week 17

Kia ora!

This week was pretty fun and crazy haha Monday was pretty good we went Christmas shopping sort of haha the malls were packed with last minute shoppers. We went with intentions to go buy ourselves stuff for Christmas but than basically decided that we will just save our money for better things later haha. Man the last minute shopping here is absolutely crazy though. They dont do black friday shopping like back home so the prices on stuff never really changes besides on boxing day. Boxing day is the day after Christmas and they have heaps of sales going on it's pretty dumb to have all the sales after Christmas. But as you would expect the traffic heading towards the malls was crazy packed haha. 

Tuesday was awesome! I loved being able to talk to the family. Its weird though haha. We spent the day visiting members and we went to the Prasads house for a bit until the Semu family called us and asked when we were coming cause apparently we were supposed to go to their house for lunch and dinner haha so we went there at 1 and had lunch than called the family it was great. After all that we just sat in the living room and talked with the family. We gave a short Christmas lesson before we left and than sang Silent Night in Maori it was pretty cool!

Wednesday we had a combined district council with the district next to ours because one of the sister companionships had a different meeting to go to at the office. So yea being the new district leader they made me do the training part of the meeting and man was I stressed out about it haha. I mean why should a bunch of missionaries that have been out for over a year be listening to someone who has been out for 4 months haha pretty crazy. But it turned out pretty good I guess I cant complain haha we than had calls with the rest of the leaders in the zone that night to set goals for the month of January that was pretty fun.

Thursday we did heaps of tracting and got invited to a baptism in the sisters ward for an 8 year old. The bishop wanted us to be the witnesses for the baptism and that was pretty fun. I love seeing people take that step in their life and see the joy on their face when they come out it's so amazing. We than had to drive 45 minutes to a dinner appointment and that was pretty good. We talked to them about a potential person we can teach and visit. If things all turn out good we will be having lessons with people soon. It's pretty exciting.

Friday we had weekly planning and did some family history. Its pretty fun when you get into it and start learning about your past. We did heaps of tracting and visiting less actives. Pretty average day haha.

Saturday we had companionship exchanges with the zone leaders and that was pretty good! I was with the newest zone leader Elder Cannone. He's only 1 transfer ahead of me and already a zone leader. He's the man. He taught me so much and has really shown me how I can improve. There is so much that I need to work on and he has helped me get started. We found some potential people for them and it was pretty fun. We were talking to people on the street and this Chinese 20 year old had two suit cases and I stopped him and asked him how he was doing and he replied quickly that he was lost and needed help finding a house. Long story short we got out our phones for a map and ended up walking this guy almost 2 kilometers to the house he was looking for and he was walking in the wrong direction. If we wouldn't have stopped him he wouldn't have found that house. The poor guy flew here alone and is still trying to learn English. It was so awesome that we were placed in that spot to help him. God really does care for all of his children.

Sunday was good we went to church and the Sorenson's were asked to bear their testimonies and than they told us how Brother Sorenson was called to be the 2nd councilor for the new MTC president at the New Zealand MTC. It was pretty cool finding that out. They are excited and ready to take on a new challenge in life. Pretty neat sacrament meeting. We than did some tracting and had dinner with the Patterson family. They are amazing! 

Over all this week has been pretty great and I'm excited to see how much I can change with being called as a district leader along with the commitments I got from the zone leaders. I'm really pushing to be the best I can. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a happy new year! Have a wonderful week!

Ofa atu! 

Love, 

Elder Wilding 

Week 16 and Merry Christmas

Kia ora!

This week was pretty fast Monday wasn't anything too special. We got our car back so that was a huge blessing haha. 

Tuesday we had a pretty interesting day. We drove to Helensville to do some tracting and spent the day their and we encountered a very interesting lady when we were door knocking. She loved how we were sharing a message about Christ and trying to help people see how important he is to all of us but than she started attacking us saying we are cloned and forced to dress up and wear tags and be annoying by knocking doors haha. She told us we weren't having fun and that the church is dumb for making us work and go all over the place teaching and annoying people. We tried to talk about how we love to do this and we were not forced or anything but she wouldn't take any of that haha than she gave us a huge which was super weird and thanked us for trying to share a message about Christ and than started bashing us again so we said merry Christmas and walked away haha it was strange. That was pretty much our day haha.

Wednesday we had zone conference and that was so amazing and the spirit was so strong I loved it! I got to see some of my mtc intake and got to visit with them. Elder Rogers is already training and he's excited for that but pretty nervous haha. It's crazy how we are all in different stages of our missions. After all the training for zone conference all the districts in the 3 zones that were there had to perform a skit themed around missionary work and Christmas and there was very funny skits that were performed I really wish I could explain them all but I can’t ahah they were too good. Very fun day though I loved it and loved getting to visit with the missionaries.

Thursday it rained heaps so we couldn't really do much but did a little bit of tracting.

Friday was pretty good we had some member visits and received some training on how to do family history and that was really fun and interesting. Family history is pretty fun but very difficult sometimes haha. We had a ward activity where we went down to hobsonville to walk at the docks again but not as many people showed up and we just talked to Bracken and Selena about New Zealand and American slang and how the people talk haha it was pretty fun and interesting. I'm not sure if you can tell from my emails but I talk so much different now haha. 

Saturday we did heaps of member visits and door knocking trying to spread the good news of celebrating the birth of Christ and the true meaning of Christmas. We had a potential lesson fall through so that kinda sucked but we will try to set another one soon.

Sunday was pretty great we had an amazing 1 hour day of church. The sacrament meeting was focused on Christ and remembering him. The spirit was so strong. We than had a member baptism that we went to and enjoyed getting to talk to the family and some of the ward members. We had a lesson with some members that are currently looking after two foster kids and when we had a lesson on spending Christmas with families and focusing on Christ than the girl started to cry because she said she has no family.. we felt really bad but as we continued we said that she has family everywhere she goes because we are all Gods children and that really touched her and helped her so much. Turned our to be a very good lesson. Went to go tracting and it was pouring so we just went back to the flat and had more studies. 

Very good week I'm excited to have my 1st Christmas out here and it's been weird but amazing at the same time. I guess its gonna be raining Christmas day but we will see haha. So much for a hot sunny Christmas haha. We will be visiting heaps of members and than getting my first call home so that's awesome! Anyway I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and really focus on family and Christ!

Ofa atu! 

Love, 

Elder Wilding

Week 15

Kia ora!

This week has been amazing!! We didn't really do much for pday this last week but Monday night me and Elder Baasansuren got a call from the Mission President and we were told our transfer news! Elder Baasansuren went up north back to the same area he serve in for 9 months haha he's excited though the people love him there! I got called to be the district leader! It's been pretty crazy but I'm getting used to it haha. 

Tuesday we did some good byes to the members for Elder Baasansuren and did some tracting that was about it.

Wednesday was transfer day and my new companion is Elder Iuli! I'm so excited to be his companion and getting to serve in West Harbour with him. He's been awesome so far! We did some introductions with the members as well so that was way fun. He loves the members already! 

Thursday we did heaps of biking and tracting which was pretty fun and we took a break at a fruit stand and ate some fresh peaches and talked about so much stuff it was fun! We had dinner with a the Sorenson family and then they had a little meeting for Elders quorum and Elder Iuli got to meet more members so that was good for him!

Friday we did heaps of stuff preparing for the baptism and than planned with the district for a skit we have to perform at zone conference this next week. We did some tracting and met a guy named Roga and talked to him about God. He does t believe in a religion just believes in God because too many people focus on the religion and church instead of God himself and we had a great conversation about how we focus on God and Jesus Christ and try to bring people closer to Them. 

Saturday was the BAPTISM for Selena! It was seriously the best day of my mission I loved seeing her get into the water and the smile that was on her face! She was super nervous before she got baptized but after she got out she told me, "Elder Wilding you were right. This was the most spiritual and peaceful feeling I've ever felt!" I was so happy for her and seeing how supportive her family was even though they aren't members was great and now we can start to focus on converting the whole family! Elder Baasansuren baptized her. He came all they way back down from up north to do it. It was so amazing I loved it and it really shows that all the hard work and difficult days pay off. After the baptism we went to Selenas house to celebrate and we got to talk to the family about everything and they are so nice and supportive.

Sunday I got to confirm Selena a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints! I was super nervous but it was awesome! Since we didn't have a car after church a member gave us a ride to their house for dinner and than they took us to the Stake Christmas Cantata after. They whole stake had parts in singing Christmas songs and talking about the birth of Christ it was awesome! It topped the week off with another spiritual moment!

Today as of right now we are just getting our car back so that is gonna be so amazing having it back so we can visit the members and tract in the far away areas. I'm so excited haha!

This week has been so amazing and I'm so excited to see what this transfer holds for me and Iuli! I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

Alofa ate oe!

Love,

Elder Wilding

 Selena's Baptism!

Transfers

Jeff sent me a quick note .. He is staying and West Harbour and he is the New District Leader. His new companion is Elder Luli.

Week 14

Kia ora Everyone!

Man was this week different Haha. So I'm not sure how many of you know but last Monday after we were heading home from our zone pday, which was super fun we went ice skating, we decided to go the longer way home because the motorway was packed with cars and we got in a little accident... no one was hurt and things are all good our car just wasn't able to make it home Haha.. so this week we have been on bikes yayyyyyy Haha it was really hard but blessings will be coming I know it haha. Anyway pday overall was fun got to talk to heaps of other elders and sisters. Very fun day until the drive home haha. 

Tuesday was pretty cool and kinda crazy. We started off with getting a ride to Elder Baasansurens weekly therapy appointment for his shoulder and walked about 3 kilometers back to the flat. Most of the zone went to the Auckland city mission for a day of service but when they all got there the zone leaders found out it wasn't our week so everyone came back and we had a late district meeting instead of having it on Wednesday like we normally do when we have the service. The district meeting was pretty good after we did our secret Santa and gave each other our gifts. I got a small basketball and a loop clay decoration deal from sister Falute. I gave sister Weeden a thing of chocolate and a necklace haha. It was a very fun meeting. My district is the best!

Wednesday we had exchanges with the zone leaders and I was with elder Galdino. I'm not sure if anyone remembers who he is Haha but that was pretty fun we ended up helping some people set up some fake Christmas trees and decorating while we were out tracting haha. Very fun day we didn't get much done because we had to drive around heaps but I learned quite a bit.

Thursday we had a district blitz for the sisters serving in Massey. And it rained SO much haha we tried to stay out of the rain but that kinda failed. Biked heaps too. At this point I was kinda getting used to it so that was good haha. We went and visited the Patriarch and his wife and had a little lesson with them that was fun. They also have a really cool bird that we got to kinda play with haha. Thursday was hard but over all fun.

Friday was very hard haha we bike just about everywhere in our area and did heaps of tracting. That night though we went to a town about 5-6 kilometers away I think and went for a walk around a park and by the water with the ward for an activity. It was really fun and got to hang out with all the little kids! They made it so much fun! This ward has so much fun together and I love them all!

Saturday we went to Mount Roskill to do a zone blitz with another zone and the youth in the Mount Roskill stake. Elder Baasansuren and I didn't end up getting any youth cause they ran out and same with two elders named Elder Burgoyne from pocatello and elder crandell who is from Arizona and in my mtc Intake. So we went door knocking together it was pretty good and nice being with someone from my intake while tracting! When we got back to our area we just visited some members that were close to us. 

Sunday was busy! We had church and met with Selena and she brought her parents and her sister to church!! It was awesome seeing them there. We talked to them about the baptism coming up and if they had. Any questions or concerns and they were very supportive for Selena! They asked a few questions and we basically taught the Restoration. We hope that they come to church again and start taking lessons it would be so amazing for Selena! They invited us to go their house after the baptism for a little party so we hope to invite them to take the lessons soon. Later that night we went to the stake center and watched the Christmas Devotional which was amazing! I love the spirit during Christmas and that made it so much better! After that we went to a members house to celebrate Elder Baasansurens birthday which was really fun! The members here really love him. He's been here for almost 6 months. The bishop and his family came over around 9 and surprised him with a little cake and sang to him that was really cool! 

Transfers are this week and we think Elder Baasansuren will be getting transferred and I'll be staying but you never know. I might have a new companion so that will be interesting. Elder Baasansuren has been so amazing and patient with me I can't even explain it. He's been great! Because of the wreck I lost my driving privilege for next transfer and maybe even more we aren't sure yet so we will see what happens. This area needs a car so that means one of us should be getting transferred. We will see haha.

I hope you all have a great week and hope you are all getting into the Christmas spirit! 

Alofa atu!!

Love, 

Elder Wilding 

 P-day Ice Skating

 This is the Bishop in the ward. His family brought Elder Bassansuren cake for his birthday!

Week 13

Kia ora!!

This week has been pretty amazing! Im starting to see the blessings from all our hard work and tracting and it has been so great! 

Monday we went to the Prasad's and had family home evening and had dinner. I love visiting with that family and sometimes we get caught up talking to much we get lost track of time Haha. We talked heaps about Christmas and what our families do and what they did back in Tonga. It sounds like Tonga is full of the Christmas spirit!

Tuesday we had district council and that was pretty much it. Did some tracting and inviting people to our ward activity on Saturday. The activity was a swap meet. Everyone in the ward donated stuff they didn't need and people could take whatever they wanted. I'll get to that later though.

Wednesday we had interviews with President Walker and that was pretty good. Transfers should be pretty interesting we will see what happens! We also had another lesson with Selena and taught about the 10 commandments and at the end we committed her to get baptized! It was so awesome and the spirit was so strong! I'm so excited for her and can't wait!!

Thursday we had a ZLC meeting and got to meet with all the leaders in the zone that was fun. We got heaps of training from the zone leaders too. We went to visit with Shui again to figure out all the plans for him and how to help him with smoking. That was pretty cool. He was very excited to take on the challenge.

Friday was weekly planning and we were kinda disappointed.. we sent Shui a text asking if we could come over again because we found out the Chinese sisters were going to be there and we wanted to figure out who was gonna be teaching him and all the other plans. He replied and said that he is going to put off all of the baptism stuff and joining the church until he finds out if he can stay in New Zealand or not. He is here on a limited Visa and might have to leave at the start of the new year... so we wont be going to visit him unless he invites us back again..  kinda sad deal..

Saturday was amazing! We started off the day going to the ward activity and helping g people pack up things they picked out from the swap meet. We also got to talk to one of the people a member has been trying to invite to meet with us that was nice. We than went to go paint a classroom at an elementary school for our day of service. Again I stuck at taking pictures and only took 2 of Elder Baasansuren Haha. We than went back to the swap meet and was told a couple moved into a house right by the chapel and was interested in coming to church and that they might come to church on Sunday. They didn't end up coming though.. also bracken and Selena invited another friend of theirs to Selenas baptism so we might get to teach her too! And we will meet selenas parents this next Sunday! Saturday was so amazing!!! Heaps of nonmembers went to the ward activity so we might get more referrals soon.

Sunday was really good we had another lesson with Quinton and than met with Selena to discuss her baptism date and her program she will be baptized the 15 of December!! I'm so excitedand cant wait! With her parents coming to the baptism and church this Sunday we can possibly start teaching them. I'm so excited for whats to come! It's been a really great week! I can'tbe more excited 

I hope you all have an amazing week! Aloha atu!!

Love,

Elder Wilding 

Week 12

Kia ora!

This week has been pretty good! Monday was elders pray so we went to a trampoline park and played basketball. Pretty fun day.

Tuesday we had district council and we decided to do a secret Santa deal so that will be pretty cool. I got my phone back from Samsung too and lost all my photos that I took from the day it broke so that was kinda sad. Good thing i had the rest backed up Haha. I did get some other pictures from the people in my district and zone so there shouldbe heaps more. We had dinner with a senior couple serving in our ward from Utah that was pretty fun. And i ate banana cream pie for the first time in YEARS. Grandma Wilding should be pretty happy about that Haha.

Wednesday we had another district blitz but didn't really have to much luck with that but it was fun to see the district again this week. We got invited to another birthday this week and it was at the Prasads. They had a Fortnite themed party it was pretty cool Haha

Thursday we did reacting and heaps of walking. We also went to visit a guy named Shui. He's from China and we met him a like 4 or 5 weeks ago tracting and found out that his mom who is 85 was being taught by the Chinese sisters so when Shui invited us over we didn't really want to go cause he was already being taught. But we saw him while we were shopping on Monday and he insisted that we come visit. Long story short he wants to be taught in English even though he doesn't speak it very well and wants us to teach him. It's kinda crazy cause Shui and his mom were also referred to the Chinese elders so there is 3 sets of missionaries involved in this family Haha. Anyway he wants to get baptized but has to quit smoking and drinking. 

Friday was crazy we got called by the mission office to help Elder Baasansuren get ready for college when he goes home so we drove to the office and dropped off my replacement phone and spent some time getting Elder Baasansuren ready to apply to BYU Hawaii. We also go the Book of Mormon stories book for Shui and went back to his house to help him understand the Book of Mormon. Pretty fun time. I'm getting really good at understanding broken English Haha

Saturday was way fun! We went to Shuis' Mom's baptism at the Chinese branch and listened to people speak Mandarin for 2 hours Haha. It was so great to see her get baptized we hardly knew her and couldn't talk to her but the happiness she had on her face was all we needed to see it was great! We hope Shui will be able to follow her in a few Months after he gives up his addictions. We still have to figure out if we can teach him or not because he goes to the Chinese branch not our ward so we will talk to the Mission President soon about that!

So Saturday night we went to a dinner appointment with the Patterson's and they made the best New Zealand style Thanksgiving ever! Pumpkin pie, Turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes! They had just about everything! It was so nice of them to help me feel at home it was great! And sorry again I stuck at photos and didn't get a picture of the Thanksgiving dinner sorry Haha. But we also taught a lesson with one of sister Pattersons new friends and taught the Restoration it was awesome we hope to visit with her again!

Sunday I gave my first talk! It was kinda nerve wracking but it turned out great. I really do love this ward and the support they have for us! We taught Selena again and we have another lesson with her on Wednesday and we hope to set her baptismal date! Pray for us cause we are so close with her!It's super excited!

I hope all of you had a great week and an even better Thanksgiving cause mine was awesome! I love you all and hope you have another amazing week! And don't forget to #LighttheWorld 

Aloha atu!

Love, 

Elder Wilding 

Week 11

Kia ora!

This week has been pretty good! We didn't really do much on Monday. I took a nap so that was great haha. We went to go teach a lesson with Jaden and his sister Monday night but they weren't paying attention at all so that kinda sucked but it's all good.

Tuesday we had lunch with Brother Wihongi again he is awesome. He always offers to help us out and if we need a fellowship he is always willing. We also met a guy named John. He's from Tonga and he's really nice. He was hit by a car when he lived in Tonga and now he's mentally slow which is really sad.. but he's great to talk to and he's already a member but we are trying to get his mom involved in the lessons cause shes a nonmember. Its a work in progress but we will get there.

Wednesday we had Zone Conference which was really fun it was just our zone this time and we went over how to use technology more effective and using time wisely. Me and elder baasansuren wore matching ties so that was pretty cool. We have to sets in the same design just different colors one is red and one is blue they are so nice! And Elder Ross who is from Idaho Falls has the same suit as me so we took a picture so I matched with two people that day haha Elder Bingham from Malad gave his out going testimony so he will be going home this transfer. He's awesome he's one of the assistants to the Pres and I always had great Idaho conversations with him haha. 

Thursday we went to the Auckland city mission again and served food. It was pretty fun serving food and getting to talk to the people that come through. Its always super fun to go serve there. That's pretty much our Thursday nothing else really haha. 

Friday we did heaps of tracking and didn't have too much luck but we went to meet with John again and taught him the Plan of Salvation and we are waiting for a good chance to talk to his mom about bringing him to church and participating in the lessons. She always seems to be busy but we will keep trying. We got invited to a members birthday party. Her name is Sister Semu she and her husband are leaving for Samoa for a mission in a few months and her family through a surprise party. It was way fun and heaps of people were there. We got a picture with her and her husband and wore our matching ties and she loved them haha. We helped clean the dishes and clean up the food after.

Saturday we did more tracting and we went to a place called Hobsonville. Its a relatively new town here and heaps of people already live there haha. On our way back to our car a member that works at a restuarant saw us and bought us lunch and that was awesome. I had a pork sandwich and it was so good haha. We did our studies and more finding and that was pretty much it.

Sunday was awesome! We had sacrament and after we had a lesson with Quinton. He is a guy that Brother Wihongi met months ago and has been trying to get his life back on track. I think I mentioned Quinton a while ago but I'll tell you about him again haha. He grew up in a gang and had bad relationships with his family. He got into a bad situation and now has a 3 year old son who has been taken away from him and the mom doesn't take care of the boy either. So Quinton is trying to get him back but has to go through some trials first. He has to get his health better cause he had a heart attack I think from smoking and he's getting heaps better. Anyway we had a lesson with him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and having Faith it was pretty good! We also met with Selena. I think I mentioned her too. She is a friend of the Bishops daughter and has been taught a few months before I got here but was dropped because she didn't come back to church for months and stopped talking to the Elders. But Bracken (the bishops daughter) kept inviting her and talking to her about the churchand helping her understand the Book of Mormon. So we had a lesson with her and she loved it. She has been talking about getting baptized so hopefully she will take that step soon! It's pretty exciting!

Anyway that's my week! I hope you all have been doing great! I love you all and pray for you! Have an amazing Thanksgiving and eat enough Turkey and mashed potatoes for me!!

Love,

Elder Wilding