Sunday, April 24, 2016

Favona update!


Sorry I'm late this week. All the Email shops were closed and we had to drive around and find one. Today is ANZAC day, so basically Memorial day. Its for all of the Soldiers and things like that. So heaps of stuff is closed! So that was annoying! But whateve's!

    So this week was really good! It was really fast! We had transfers this week and THANKFULLY I am still in Favona with Elder Bass! So that was actually a really great surprise! It doesn't feel like we just had transfers because I am with the same person! So that is not normal! This is the first time that I have been with a companion with more than one transfer! I'm really excited!

     Some great news this week is from the Isaako family! We had a lesson with them on Thursday, We talked about the Restoration, and Bishop came with us. So we went in with the plan to set them with a baptism date. So when we got to the end of the lesson I could hear and feel that Elder Bass wasn't going to go that way. He gets nervous about being too bold sometimes, So I could feel that he was nervous to say it. So I just went for it. I asked them to be baptized on the 14th of May. Ruban said yes. Then Melaina said yes. So we set the two of them, then Jordan isn't fully into the idea. He still wants to be baptized in the catholic church for now. So we will be changing that! The only issue is that Melaina isn't married. So we have to work on getting them married before she can be baptized. Just keep them in your prayers please!

     We got to take out one of our YSA to do some visits with us. He is a RM from Australia. He is living over here with his auntie and studying. So we went to visit some less actives. Its 2 20ish year old girls. Their parents moved to Australia and they stayed. So we took Wyatt (The YSA) to visit them and when we went in we found out that they are Cousins!!! (Not that big of a surprise... Everyone over here is related!) So we taught them The Gospel of Jesus Christ, about Repentance, Faith, Baptism, The Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. So it was cool to get to FINALLY get in and teach them again! They are really funny and great girls! We will be hopefully seeing them again tonight! 

      Oh so some BIG NEWS! (not really that big...) Our Bishop was SOOOO excited on Sunday at church to get to announce that our ward has a new name! We are not the Favona Road Ward any more, We are now the Favona First Ward. It was really weird how excited he was. It shows potential for more wards to branch off of us! But for now nothing really has changed.

 Love you!

Love Elder Seelos

Hey I cant send pics... This computer is too slow... Sorry!!! I'll send HEAPS next week!


Sunday, April 17, 2016

Investigator updates and a song....

 Man, this week went by so dang FAST! But thankfully it wasn't Furious! Honestly this week just flew by! I feel like I just wrote an Email. We had a lot going on this week and that really makes the week go by so much faster!

   So to start off we sang at the Come and See yesterday, and I have to say it went pretty great! There was 8 of us all together. The 6 Elders, Brother Mafi, and Elder Martin (A senior couple in the Zone). So we sang in front of like 300 people. I was a bit nervous but it went away fast! The Mafi's are awesome! We practiced like 3 times in the week and we got the song pretty good! It was really cool to get to be with the missionaries that much! 

     We were able to have Trade off with Elder Dalton and Elder Mahony. I got to stay in our area with Elder Mahony. Elder Mahony is from Perth, Australia. He goes home in August, so he is starting to finish up. He is really great and he knows a lot! He is a great missionary! One thing I was able to learn from him was to stay awake! He has a problem of ALWAYS falling asleep! So it was fun to get to scare him in the car while he fell asleep! 

      Sunday was GREAT! The Isaako family came to church! So that was really cool! We have been working with them a lot trying to get them to church! So we got to talk about Baptism with them because Jordan wants to get baptized in the Catholic Church. So that's weird... But their Mom, Gmelina was apparently a member at one point, so she wants them to be baptized in our Church. We figured out also on Sunday that she has no records. So she isn't a member, So we get to now try to work with her and get her married and baptized! So now that meant 2 New Investigators! Because Ruban is 8 so he isn't a ward baptism anymore. That was a Huge Miracle! 

       We have been visiting one of our Youth a lot this week. He is 14 and was baptized like 2 years ago. He is the only member in his family, and the family is not a great place for him to be. His mom is crazy, She was an investigator that we dropped because she is crazy, his Brother/Sister wants to be a Girl, and his other Brother is a hard out druggie/drinker. So he really just needs the continuing support! The Young Men's President is Awesome and really does his best, but we have been visiting David just to keep him going. He really is a great kid. He walked to 3 sessions of conference, and came to our Fireside last night! He's so great! 

I'm reading a lot of different things right now!  One thing I am studying right now is the New Testament! Its cool to really read it through! I am hoping to finish it next transfer.  It's actually REALLY good!  Then I want to go into the D&C. 

Well that's my week! As my Brother Tyler would say "That was the Scenic Route through my week!"

Love Ya! Love Elder Seelos
Elder Bass and I eating an apple, dad says at least it's not a donut!

Emailing home today!
Sister Mafi is the BEST!  Pizza lunch break at the Mafi's house.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

I love conference!

 So this week has been a great one! A lot of this week was leading up to Conference! We got to watch Conference over the weekend and It was AWESOME!! I loved every talk and it was so cool to hear the leaders of the church instructing us on EXACTLY what we need to do.

   So this week was a weird week. We started off with Flue Shots on Tuesday. So that was pretty fun! And I didn't even CRY! (Haley I also didn't pass out, Just FYI) Right after that we got to have Trade Off's with the Assistants. So that was really fun! I got to stay in Favona with Elder Faamoe. He is a Samoan from Missouri. He's a great guy! He loves missionary work and is VERY good at it. It was really cool to learn from him!  We had a cool thing happen to us!  We had appointments ALL DAY!  Literally the only free hour we had was between 1 and 2, and that was filled up by Flu Shots. So one of our appointments at 3:45 fell through and so we had like 10 minutes before our next appointment at 4. So we decided just to try 2 doors on the street. So Elder Faamoe asked where I felt we should go, I thought a house across the street. When we knocked on the door a guy came but wasn't interested. So the Elder Faamoe decided a house across the street. So we tried it and a little boy came to the door, well he went and got his mom and he said "Mom, its the Elders." So we were surprised by that. Well it ended up that they were members and they had just moved up from Wellington and didn't know what church they were suppose to go to. So they had been looking for us! So long story, but what I learned from it was the fact that its more about our feelings then it is about what we are thinking. We need to follow our heart, more than our mind.

     Now another Trade off miracle! We had trade off with the Niuean Elders on Thursday. So I got to go to the Niuean area (which is the Entire mission) with Elder Ahoneima (Tongan). So we were getting a T-shirt printed for one of the Sisters in the Zone for her Birthday. As we walked out of there someone looked at us and pointed at me and said "Hey its you!" Well as I looked over at her I realized that it was a girl from Waterview (Her name is Vai) that was baptized in the Sisters ward, but I did her Baptismal Interview and was able to attend a few lessons with her. Well we started to talk and she had just moved down South a bit ago and she hadn't been going to church since she had moved. When we asked her why she said that it was because she didn't know where to go. So I told her just to come to my ward! It was really cool, but after we left and the rest of that day I just kept getting a weird feeling about it all. I have no idea what it meant, but I decided to leave it all with the Lord and promised that if he would let me run into her again I would do whatever I had to do. So please keep her in your prayers that she will make it to church on Sunday.

      Now my spiritual thought comes out of Conference. It isn't specifically about a talk, but about something that I was able to learn through the whole thing. That was the idea of the Spirit. The Spirit can always tell us things, but at times we are not ready, listening, or open. When we are given the chance to be in a place where we are ready and listening to the spirit, i.e. Conference. That is when the Spirit can really tell us everything we need to know. Its amazing the impressions that we can get when we are really listening. So when you are in a place to feel the spirit don't just listen with your physical ears, but also listen with your Spiritual ears!

Love you!
    Love Elder Seelos
Happy birthday Sister Kulu!

A sister in our ward bought us new bedding!  Yes, my room is a mess!

Selfie

Machette' Gardening

We are scary.

Hanging out waiting for lunch....

Family home evening with the Mafi's

Sister Mafi is so awesome!

Tim tam pie!  It's delicious!

Yummmmmmmm.....

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Mission Leadership Conference and dog bites...

   Hello everyone!

     So we have had a lot of fun this week! Its been a pretty slow week though. We had MLC this week. MLC is a meeting with all of the Zone Leaders and the Sister Training Leaders in the mission with President and the Assistants! We left about 7 to get to Takapuna (the mission home) by 8. So the meeting started with an Awesome Home Made Breakfast in the mission home. Then we had the meeting until 12 then some lunch and then finished off until 3. After that we went to the mission office to get all the mail and supplies that we need for our zone. We then didn't get back until about 5 and then had dinner and got out to work. So it was a full day! 

     So we have been able to get to know a family (The Mafi's) in our ward really well. They LOVE missionaries! So Brother Mafi served in our mission a little while ago. So they are always looking out for us. We went over and did some service for them on Saturday and then had lunch with them. Then later that Night they asked us to come over and help them give their Baby a blessing because he was sick. Then Sister Mafi decided to create a Missionary Family Page on Facebook. So she then posted a bunch of pictures and stuff there and I'm pretty sure that my mom has become best friends with her right now! 

     One of our Investigators CAME TO CHURCH!!!! We have been teaching the Isaako Family for a few months now. Sister Isaako is a long time less active member and she has 4 boys. Jordan 11, Ruban 8, Tyson 7, and Kingston 4. So we have been trying to get them to understand the difference between our church and the Catholic Church. Jordan has been going to the Catholic Church with his Auntie for a little while and is planning on getting baptized there. Well we are going to change that. So we FINALLY got them to church and I think that they liked it! It was really exciting! We then went over Sunday night and we talked about Baptism. So we committed them to pray about where they want to get baptized and we will see tomorrow what happens! So please keep them in your prayers! They are really the only Investigators that we have been able to see much progress with this week.

  We had a family in our ward get married! Roy and Denice got married on Friday. Roy's family is in the ward and has been for a while, and Denice was baptized in October. So they invited us to go over and hang out at their wedding at the chapel for a bit and have a good feed! So it was really so much fun! We got a really nice Feed and had some fun with a lot of the people there! It was funny because her family aren't members. So you could tell who was from whose side! It was pretty funny to see some of the weird people there!   Most of them looked at us like the Plague! haha!  Like there was one girl that looked like a vampire! That is the only way I can describe her.... Also! Her dad looks like a James Bond Villain! Like when I saw him that is all I could think about! It was very funny! 

      So now for a very funny story! Elder Bass and I were walking down the street Saturday Morning. We had knocked a few doors, Talked to a few people, and were trying to contact some former investigators. Well as we were looking down the sidewalk I saw the SMALLEST Dog I have ever seen! It was like a brand new puppy. So we walked up to it and then we heard a bark. This was not a puppy bark.... This was a Mama bark. So we looked down the Driveway and there was a big mama dog running down the driveway... So of course Elder Bass started to run. Well My first thought was "If I run it will just chase me. Its probably just going to sit there and bark." So what did I do? Nothing. Well as it got closer it bared its teeth and started going hard! Haha. So it went for my feet. Which was weird. Well as it went for my foot, my foot went for it. So it bit and I kicked. As it grabbed my ankle it got my shoe also. So it just got a little scratch off of my ankle. As it bit me I kicked it and so it backed off a bit and so did I. Then we were able to leave and it went back into the driveway and laid down. So when missionaries say that they have to worry about dogs its true!

Thanks for the Email! Its great to hear from you!
          Love Elder Seelos!

The Mighty Penrose Zone!

The Elders

Muffins with the sisters

Probably the BEST thing ever!!!

At the Wedding with Toa

Greeting members before church

2 studs

Brother Mafi

We are 2 of the 4 white guys in the ward!


Cleanup at the Mafi's

Love the Mafi's!!!

The Mafi's have the cutest little boy...he has a weird Tongan name but everyone just calls him baby!!!  Even his parents!

I am sending him home mom!

The MLC conference

Studying hard!