17 April 2013

Hi Family!!!!

What a great week it has been.  FYI, I'm unable to email for two hours today because I have just taken a VIP tour and used up an hour of my P-Day doing so.  It was so worth it!  I would take the two hours if we didn't have our zone activity but know that I love you and will write back individually later.

It was so choice seeing the parental's this past week and I think I've seen them more then anyone else that has come to Temple Square to find me.  I was asked to help with co-ordinating the sisters who announce on the Square after, "Music and the Spoken Word" as that was my assignment for one of my transfers.  When the Spoken Word finished, people were filing out of the Tabernacle Building and that is when I got to see mum and dad again.  It was so cool and they got to see my Mission President and his wife too.  So neat.

On April 8th I hit my 9 month mark and my friend and I took some photos.  One of my room mates - Sister Cash was in the same MTC class as me so we both took our glamorous photos. So funny. Hina, yes you can put the pictures in my book because thats coming to me. Hope you have a good laugh!

Well, I have had a lot of fun with mum and dad and then I've been looking after my poor companion who has decided to get her health sorted out and sadly, will be leaving at the end of this transfer. It is a wise decision and she has been fighting with it for a long time.  She is a great missionary and has more work to do back in Reno. Who knows, maybe one day I might get sent outbound to Reno where she is from. During the time she has been sick I have been staying home with her and I have been reading the Book of Mormon, in Alma Chapter's 43-48 about Captain Moroni.  There is a part where it talks about defending your rights, liberties and families and I remember Jasmyn McCann - when we were in Young Women's in Sydney growing up - saying how she always wanted to marry him.  Anyway, it was cool because we had not long talked to one of our investigators who is less active and he was able to relate Captain Moroni to Captain America from the Avengers and he loved it.  He's an 18 year old boy and couldn't wait to read the chapters about Captain Moroni. He said, "I love it when you can talk old school things and apply them to the Avengers."  We were like, "Ok!"

Hey Elder Chadderton (Buddy) Hari huri-tau kia koe! Happy Birthday To You!!!! I cannot believe my little brother has finally hit 21!  The world must be coming to an end if he's that old! 

Temple this morning was wonderful with the parentals and I've been saying to my friends how much I like the fact that I'm seeing them in the middle of my mission because I can still be a missionary and usually when parents come to see their children on a mission its because its over and they are taking them home.  But, this isn't the case for me, I still get to have fun and be spiritual and see my family.  Blessings!!!!

But today I had the privilege of taking a VIP tour with the Consul-General of New Zealand with one of my zone leaders - Sister Wong - who went to BYU-Hawaii with me.  I only got his first name which is Leon and he was accompanied by the Salt Lake City Consulate - Iain McKay - from Wellington.  It was so neat to have this privilege and just for your information, with VIP tours we don't preach, testify and invite which is what we do with most of our tours.  So, I just shared the history of Temple Square and the Pioneers with them.  It was such a cool experience to show him around and Iain McKay is a member of the church and has been a Stake President and everything so we found that the two hosts who came on the tour with Leon shared more about the gospel then we did which was great. Leon works with the Church in allowing missionaries from America to enter NZ and it was a huge privilege to take him around.  He is so nice and gave me a kiss on the cheek when he left - much to my surprise.  Haha!  And Iain gave me a hug.  Kiwi culture - I love it!  Haha!

I have had a great week despite going on exchanges with other missionaries because my companion's body isn't allowing her to work like she would like it to.  One of those days while on exchange,  I was also with Sister Wong and we hadn't bought any food to the Square for dinner.  Sister Wong is in a wheelchair because she fell in a pothole crossing the road and stretched her achilles tendon.  Anyway, we decided we wanted Mexican food from Gateway and to get to Gateway you have to catch the Trax which is like the inner railway system for the city.  We were like, "Yeah we can do it! No worries!"  So, we go outside and it's raining, so she opens up her umbrella and is holding her arm straight up in the air to cover me while I push her. It was the funniest thing to see because it looked like we were going to fly away like Mary Poppins. We get to Gateway to Costa Vida (yum) and got ice-cream as a treat after because it was one of those days and then we go to get back on the Trax and Sister Wong has the umbrella lying horizontally across her lap and I'm trying to push her up the ramp to get onto the train but we couldn't get in.  Twice before, a man behind me offered to push her in and my Maori pride was like , "Nah, I'll try one more time and backed up a little and pushed harder and faster and the umbrella scrapes through the door making a loud snapping noise which scares Sister Wong and makes her scream, which scared the man behind me, who jumps back."  Needless to say, horizontal umbrella's don't help when pushing someone in a wheelchair through a vertical door.  I hurried onto the Traxx and cracked up laughing!  Hilarious!

Okay, well, my hour is up and we are getting kicked out so I will send photos quickly if I can!!!  Love you all!

Sister Chadderton xoxo