So Many!

"You never can foretell the consequences of that which you do. And the man or the woman, or the boy or the girl, on whom you call today, with whom you speak, with whom you may leave a Book of Mormon, who may turn you down, may later become interested and come into this Church. . . .Strange are the ways of the Lord in touching the hearts of people. You never can tell the consequences of that which you do."

-Gordon B. Hinckley-

 Our March 27th intake is our new record largest intake! 19 missionaries!

 We had to rent extra vans and trailers just to haul the missionaries and their bags to the mission home.

 What an outstanding group of missionaries! The bar has been raised.

Dinner time at the mission home. 

 Tuesday night we only had 18 missionaries. Standing- Sister Russell (Iona, Idaho), Elder Oliva (Samoa), Elder Gordon (Payson, Utah), Elder Hilton (Deming, New Mexico), Elder Means (Sandy, Utah), Elder Hall (Vernal, Utah), Elder Nelson (Mesa, Arizona), Elder Stolp (Preston, Idaho), Elder Barnes (Pleasant Grove, Utah), Elder Williams (Los Lunas, New Mexico), Elder James (Layton, Utah), Elder Purcell (Ephrata, Washington), Elder Evans (Sandy, Utah), Elder Olson (Placencia, California), Elder Cook (Fountain Green, Utah). Front- Elder Cuthbertson (Glendale, Arizona), Elder Nevitt (San Tan Valley, Arizona), and Elder Fonokalafi (Auckland, New Zealand). All of these missionaries were trained at the Auckland Missionary Training Center in New Zealand.

Elder Heinricks has raised the standard of service. He tells the missionaries they have to earn their apron to have the privilege of helping out in the kitchen of the mission home. However, Elder Cuthbertson came with his own apron. Everyone wanted one of these! 

Our last missionary - Elder Edwards from Kaysville, Utah - arrived on Wednesday after having been trained at the Provo MTC. That's always a long flight.

Our second dinner at the mission home after the missionaries had their first experience of actually tracting. They had some good stories to share.

The missionaries found one of the world's largest insects - The Weta - it is only found in New Zealand and is said to be older than the dinosaurs. It was a star. They do bite!

Table #1

Table #2

Table #3 (Good thing is was a beautiful day) New Zealand is still having a drought. The worst in 70 years.

Our whole group.

There is always room for desert. Especially if it includes New Zealand Ice Cream.

Missionary Moments

"I am called of God. My authority is above that of kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my master and He has chosen me to represent Him - to stand in His place, to say and do what He Himself would say and do if He personally were ministering to the very people to whom He has sent me. My voice is His voice, and my acts are His acts; my doctrice is His doctrine. My commission is to do what He wants done; To say what He wants said; to be a living modern witness in word and in deed of the divinity of his great and marvelous Latter-day work. How great is my calling!"

-Elder Bruce R. McConkie-

 More scenes from Creekfest.

 Lunch break.

 Elder Greer and Elder Heinricks had a great day!

Sister Fitisemanu

 Wellington and Hutt Valley combined Zone Conference - Sister Nowers, Sister Taleni, Sister Ramirez and Sister Alcock.

 President Kezerian, Elder and Sister Edwards, Elder and Sister Shepherd.

 All the members that provided such a fantastic meal. A big thank you!

 Getting ready to sing for our food.

 Christchurch Zone Conference. Sister Paongo, Sister Rose, Sister Saulala, Sister Saunders, Elder Ross and Elder Cunningham.

 Sister and Elder Blackwell, Sister and Elder Smith and Elder Jarvis.

 Elder Vui, Elder Maribo, Elder Kaumavae, Elder Christensen, Elder Sasagi and Elder Taufa.

 Elder Tuihalangingie, Elder Hilliman, Elder Kava and Elder Florian.

 Sister and Elder Little with President Kezerian.

Elder and Sister Blackwell are the new CES Couple serving in Christchurch. They are from Marysvale, Utah They are working with a wonderful group of YSA in the area.

Called to Serve

"And all will gain the companionship of the Spirit as they persist in keeping their commitments with God. In the Master's service, you will come to know and love Him. You will, if you persevere in prayer and faithful service, begin to sense that the Holy Ghost has become a companion. Many of us have for a period given such service and felt that companionship. If you think back on that time, you will remember that there were changes in you. The temptation to do evil seemed to lessen. The desire to do good increased. Those who knew you best and loved you may have said, "you have become more kind, more patient. You don't seem to be the same person." You weren't the same person because the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. And the promise is real that we can become new, changed, and better. And we can become stronger for the tests of life. We then go in the strength of the Lord, a strength developed in His service. He goes with us. And in time we become His tested and strengthened disciples."

-President Henry B. Eyring-

Welcome Elder Evans from Wallsburg, Utah!

Nelson District Conference (Soon to be Nelson Zone)

Welcome to Elder and Sister Christensen from San Felipe, Mexico. Elder Christensen served his first mission as a young man in New Zealand, then he served as Mission President in Uganda and now they are serving in the Hawke's Bay Zone.

Hawkes Bay Zone Conference role plays

Palmerston North Zone. The ladies in the ward had this wonderful lunch prepared and already dished up. What service!

Elder Lawson in a deep conversation with the Beckstead's

Elder Ma'asi, Elder Alofipo, Elder Sun and Elder Fahina.

More role plays.

Everything was cleaned up and the missionaries were on their way back to their areas in record time!

Cannons Creekfest. All the missionaries in the Wellington Zone participated in setting up and taking down the main stage, driving the golf carts for those in need of transportation and talking to everyone about the gospel.

Elder Teaupa and Elder Vagaia.

Wow! That was a lot of work!

Elder Vagaia and Elder Cottle at our booth at the Creekfest in Porirua. 

The Creekfest is the annual Health Festival held in the heart of Cannons Creek Porirua in March each year. This is the first year we have had a booth there. They have live stage entertainment performed by local and national artists which draws a big crowd. Sport competitions by participating schools are promoting healthy action and encourage participation.

It was a great day for all the missionaries to contact many people.

Sister Ramirez, Sister Nielsen, Sister Tukuafu, Sister Fitisemanu, and Sister Glenn at the Wellington Airport. Sister Nielsen from Santa Clara, Utah and Sister Tukuafu from Gilbert, Arizona just arrived after their training at the Auckland MTC.

Orientation and dinner at the mission home.

Sister Tukuafu, Sister Alcock (from Victoria, BC, Canada, she was on visa delay and temporarily served in Montana) Sister and President Kezerian, Elder Dean (from Mississippi - temporarily served in Tennessee.) Assistants - Elder Heinricks and Elder Greer.

Welcome Elder Christensen from Cedar Hills, Utah.

Elder and Sister Stucki from Highland Utah, have been called to serve as Family History - Records Preservation Missionaries who will be serving in the Wellington Achieves.